I share the general sentiment here that these children should not be imprisoned for life as adults, or god knows, executed, but hey, WAKE UP you compassionate sensible people. Whatever their "mental ages" or leader-follower relationship, they took a three-year-old, poured paint in his eyes, hit him with a crowbar and then left him on train tracks to be cut in two. YUUUUCCCCHHHH. But that's what happened. It was not an accident and the word "prank" trivializes it beyond belief. Most kids play pranks which can be easily distinguished from cold-blooded murder.

A lot of compassionate talk about how one "incident" shouldn't ruin their lives is beside the point. They have already ruined their lives. My understanding is that both boys have come a long way in understanding their own responsibility in this evil deed. That is the basis on which they are being permitted limited freedom. They will never be free of the consequences, which are threefold: from the legal justice system, from society at large, and from their own self-awareness.

Having said that, I quite agree that the vengeance-seekers are a sorry and short-sighted lot.

The two boys, now young men, have not earned forgiveness and probably never will, since their only hope is to disappear from the public view. But one hopes they will make something useful of their lives. The catch-22 is that if they have truly been rehabilitated, it's hard to imagine what the moral burden they carry feels like, but at a guess, suicide is a distinct possibility.

The whole thing is too goddamn sad. I'm wondering, were any other parties charged with anything relating to the environment these boys grew in prior to the killing? I know they were exposed to a lot of ultra-violent videos but little else.

Willie-O