There's one thing that people here just can't seem to comprehend, and that's the fact that this 15 year old kid is a human being and deserves to be treated like one. 60 years in prison for a crime like this seems inhumane to me. Yes, the girl was beaten up pretty bad, but she didn't retain any lasting disabilities. Yes, she must have been messed up psychologically by the attack, but I have no doubt that she'll grow past it and become able to live a normal life eventually. Normal, healthy people are able to do that, no matter what burden they'll carry with them from then on.

Modern criminal punishments are composed for various reasons: incapacitation, deterrence, rehabilitation, and retribution. That last one is what I'm looking at here. Basically, by literally taking revenge for the crime that was committed, the state is attempting to prevent vigilantism. But sometimes, it can be a downright cruel factor, and I think that it played too big a role in this determination. 60 years for this offense, even if it was a dirty act with no respect for a human life, is too much.

ps to people saying even mass murderers etc dont get this long: they should. we arent allowed to kill them, but really they threw away their lives by being such fucking jerks.

if you do anything to willingly harm an innocent human in this extreme way, you don't deserve any rights at all.

Then you should move to America, where they agree with you. Thankfully, almost all of Europe does not agree with this. The state should never be allowed to take a life or take away human rights. There's nothing modern about that.

Especially the part where he was reportedly shown no emotion at all despite hearing he'll be sentenced to 60 years in prison, tells me he's a really sick and twisted invidual.

If you were sentenced to 60 years in prison, would you cry? Would you be able to comprehend that you'd not be getting out until you're 75 years old? The reason why this kid "showed no remorse" is most likely because he didn't know what to do at all. If I were sentenced to 60 years in prison, I wouldn't get it either! I'd just stare into space blankly, trying to make some sense of it all, but I doubt I would be able to! You shouldn't condemn the kid because he didn't appear to be showing any emotion.

Besides, despite the fact that he is sick and twisted, he really does have his human rights, and the right to a fair trial. No matter what you say. If you don't agree that he should, move to Myanmar.

how does this bit make any difference, out of interest?

It's a factor used to determine how harshly the criminal will be punished just like any other.

Confusion and being baffled is an emotion that's clearly visible, especially if it comes off as a huge and unprepared shock like in this case. Being emotioneless means having absolute no reaction, visually when you hear that. I know my eyes would nearly pop out from my sockets and my mouth would fall to floor.

Have you ever been sentenced to 60 years in prison?

You think you know how you would react, don't you? But in reality, you really can't know how you will react because of two things: it's really difficult to grasp the prospect of being in jail for 60 years, and even if you do, you'll become emotional, your adrenaline level will start to rise, and by then it'll be practically impossible to tell what you're going to do.

I'm not going to debate with you whether the girl is traumatized or whether she's going to be messed up for the rest of her life, because neither of us are psychologists, but my original point still stands: that despite crimes committed, a human being is still a human being, and deserves to be treated fairly. This is the cornerstone of civilization. Retribution shouldn't be the heaviest factor in determining a punishment.

That said, I don't disagree that this kid did something horrible. He does deserve serious jail time. He just doesn't deserve to be put away in a box until his life is practically over.