Almeer Nance was 16 years old when he joined two other people in an armed robbery that ended in the murder of a store manager in the US state of Tennessee.
But though he did not fire the fatal shot during the attack in Knoxville in 1996, Nance was tried as an adult, convicted of felony murder, and then sentenced to a minimum of 51 years in prison. In marked contrast, another teenage accomplice received just a one-year term.
Nanceβs case is the focus of Fault Linesβ new film β51 Years Behind Barsβ. The documentary examines Tennesseeβs strict laws on mandatory minimum sentencing for murder β which are being challenged at the stateβs supreme court – and follows Nanceβs family and supporters as they fight to bring him home.
While Tennessee has some of the USβs most punitive sentencing laws, other US states also take a harsh line when it comes to prosecuting juveniles β especially children and young people of colour. And the contrast between how children and young people are treated by US courts and prison systems and some other parts of the world is stark.
Recently, some US states have adopted a more progressive approach. Massachusetts in 2018 raised the age of juvenile court jurisdiction from seven to 12 – part of a wider overhaul of justice laws that have resulted in a drop in arrests and jail time for young offenders. Advocates for US reform say that adopting restorative justice is a way to rehabilitate juvenile offenders and repair the damage caused by the crime, while also tackling stubbornly high recidivism rates across the country.
In this episode of The Stream weβll look at β51 Years Behind Barsβ, ask why so many children and young people convicted of crimes in the US face such punitive sentences, and consider what reforms are possible.
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American prisons are filled with the poor, oppressed and victimised. Stomach turning system.
do the time when you do the crime. doesnt matter the age
Unfortunately so many of these incarcerated children come from broken homes or they were born without a father. Add to this the proliferation of weapons and you have a recipe for the present situation.
I am all for justice when it is equally applied. The governor of Michigan who help kill 12 innocents and poisoned an entire city gets to walk free. How is that justice.
It's American democracy most of this blacks serving life are the black kids
I find this so disgusting that a country playing "policeman/jury/judge to the rest of the world, treat children like this and yes, let's say it, they are almost all children of colour!
Really reprehensible and barbaric!
Just look at the majority race with long life sentences, mostly innocent?? That's it Blacks!! Every methods have been systematically used to suppress people of colour!!! Heart breaking ππ‘ Just like in slavery days, It's about the money πΈπ°π°π°πΈ and looking at people WITHOUT Biased deep conceited attitudes!!!
Because the wicked hate their brothers. They didnβt give the benefit of the doubt to Black people whether they were children or not! They only give the people that they identify with a slap on the wrist, but they angrily throw the book at the other.
P.S. I know that this is not a story about what happened to Robert Manning or the girl, but it would have been great to hear about them to itβs conclusion at the top of the interview and then have proceeded. You canβt find much on Google about them. Ultimately, both justice and vengeance belong to God! The world that created this divisive system has been destroyed in the same way that they destroyed!
"My Late Relative Was IMPRISONED In AMERICA Without TRIAL & Just RELEASED As A 'Mistake'.The Justice System Has EYES"
Prison is good for nothing but wasting tax payer dollars and profitting the GEO company. The proof is has crime increased or reduced?
Indian Bjp government arrest Alt news reporter Mohammad Zubair..BJP government implicated Zubair in the wrong case of provocative statement and sent him to jail….plz π save Zubair
Indian Bjp government arrest Alt news reporter Mohammad Zubair..BJP government implicated Zubair in the wrong case of provocative statement and sent him to jail….plz π save Zubair
Bias, race wars going ON in many forms… Divide and conquer still ON!!
Everyone seems to forget what these βkidsβ did! I think if it was your loved that was the victim of these children who took part in brutal rape/ murder/ robbery of them youβd have a different feeling! How about a conversation about the families who live on without their loved ones and how they deal with the nightmare of replaying the violent incident over and OVER AGAIN! Mercy is hard give to someone who gave no MERCY!
PROFITS> just because. Even prison is business in USA.
This in injustice everywhere on every child of every race in every country on earth. There is no excuse for this type of imprisonment. How can anyone not see this for what it is. Injustice. Cruel and unusual punishment. An abuse of authority. The denial of an opportunity to change. The overlooking of the youth and the development of a young brain. We need an international court to review every court case in the United States. Especially those involving our children ages 21 and younger! Please God Help Us!
16 years old is not a child anymore..
still better than marrying 10 to 13 girls with 60 to 75 year old mans…. in the name of r
Free Nepalese slaves in Qatar.
Corporate Prisons are a major problem in the USA. They want to keep people in prison and don't really want reform the individual.
Tennesse law makers deserve jail time
Do your judges have shares in your prisons profits? Do your law makers get profits from THEIR system ?
You have law makers that do not possess the knowledge to make the laws they make. They do not see children and they don't care that they are blind. They have one objective. Change the law makers and get some common sense. Common sense develops as you mature, children do not have it, nor do your law makers !!
Do the crime, do the time. No exeptions.
Why should these teen killers have a second chance when their victims do not have a second chance anymore?
For America human rights violation not applicable only for china. . To drum the beat NATO'
People above the age of 15 know exactly what they are doing……In Canada there is virtually no punishment for their crimes and they know it…..and on their 18th birthday they start with a clean record. They roam around in gangs beating up and in some cases killing people knowing they have no real punishment. ……This has to change. You do the crime…you do the time.
For profit prisons…need regular source of school to prison pipeline. Without resources…crimes happen more than they should. US legislators could fix this on many many fronts.
Because the us incarcerates more people the the entire world
Our system is corrupt . All murders accomplises pedophiles, rapists and armed robbers should shot on site
It cost taxpayers 60k plus per year to incarcerate someone. Our government and legal system is a complete joke
To quote THOMAS JEFFERSON πΊπ²,
'' It behooves every man who values the LIBERTY π½ of conscience for HIMSELF, to resist INVASION of it in the case of OTHERS . ''
By. # π Thomas Jefferson.
π€π ππ―οΈπ±π―οΈπ±π―οΈπ―οΈ
Thank you.
And May God's peace be upon you.
…
Maybe yes βοΈππΊπΈ
πΊπΈ
βYou have to carefully choose the OPPORTUNITY and make sure that HISTORY would be on YOUR side."
β NELSONMANDELA.
Ladies and gentlemen! ππΊπΈ
βοΈ
π€βFreedom can never be taken for granted.
Each generation must safeguard it and extend it.
Your parents and elders sacrificed much so that you should have freedom without suffering what they did. π½
Use this precious right to ensure that the darkness β« of the past never returns.ββ
By. # πNelson Mandela β
Thank you.
And may God bless us all.
πππππππππππ
.
Ladies and gentlemen! πΊπΈπ
π€ "Our freedom is also incomplete, dear compatriots, as long as we are denied our security by criminals who prey on our communities, who rob our businesses and undermine our economy, who ply their destructive trade in drugs in our schools, and who do violence against our women and children."
β nelsonmandela
Despite the economic downturn,I'm so happy. I have been earning $10,000 returns from my $2,000 investment every 8day
πΊπ³πΊπ³πΊπ³
We
have a RESPONSIBILITY to join TOGETHER on behalf of the world that we seek
— a world where EXTREMISTS no longer threaten our peopleπ!.
When long as we are denied our security by CRIMINALS,
who PREY on our COMMUNITIES π,
and who do VIOLENCE against our βοΈ# WOMEN and CHILDREN.
—
TODAY: πΊπ³
United Nations | Ψ§ΩΨ£Ω ΩΩΩΩΩΩ Ω Ψ§ΩΩ ΨͺΩΩΨΩΩΩΩΨ―ΩΨ©
has a dual RESPONSIBILITY:
That experience guides my conviction that partnership between πΊπ³
United Nations | Ψ§ΩΨ£Ω ΩΩΩΩΩΩ Ω Ψ§ΩΩ ΨͺΩΩΨΩΩΩΩΨ―ΩΨ© and Islam
MUST be based on what Islam is,
not what it isn'tβ.
Thank you.
And May God's peace be upon you | TED!.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
***
…
Because they can and then cry π’ about human rights over the world π
I'm halfway through and there's been NO mention of the 21 y/o who was shot dead. Guess he's gone, so that doesn't matter.
In Chinaπ¨π³, those will just disappear!
Too many single mothers; and reversing Roe v Wade will only make that worse π€·π»ββοΈ
So they ok with a child taking a life and letting them out a couple years later?
πΊπ³ My UNHCR, the πΊπ³ UN Refugee Agency colleague Monique Sokhan has devoted her life to serving refugees.
Her own refugee story of fleeing the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia is remarkable.
Monique survived the Cambodian genocide, having fled the Khmer Rouge terror when she was just a small child.
βItβs difficult because youβre wondering why others have died and youβre alive.
And for those who did not survive – I felt like having a responsibility somehow to do something that would make them proud of me.β
Monique now works as UNHCR Senior Protection Coordinator for Asia and the Pacific.
In our new, bitesize episode of Awake At Night, she reflects on her quest to understand the perpetrators of genocide, on reserving judgment, and on the unanswered questions that continue to haunt her.
β H.E. Melissa Flemming – UN πΊπ³
π€ ''No hour is wasted that is spent in the saddle.''
β Winston Churchill
He was old enough to know what he did was wrong. Robbing a store alone is a crime but to murder someone that was working to make a living, then he should have gotten life. He took a life. Where was his parents when he was out to commit crimes ? You can't send them home because evidently he wasn't being taught the value of life.
imagine that.
he didn't pull the trigger, he was evidently encouraged by a 20 yr old to be there and he gets 51yrs.
thats madness.
race definitely comes into it.
It's Putin's fault.
If thatβs the case; then, ALL THE POLITICIANS WHO ORDERED EXECUTIONS OUT OF USA SHOULD BE IN PRISON FOR LIFE WITH NO MERCYβ¦..
POLITICIANS ARE THE # 1 CRIMINALS IN USA πΊπΈ AND ONE TOUCHES THIS CRIMINALS POLITICIANS.
All laws should be the same in all 50 states β¦.this is why this country is falling apartβ¦two side constantly fighting and every states got their own stupid rules.
Because most of them are blacks.