The Facts
Willard Miller, the 17-year-old teen from Fairfield, Iowa, who pleaded guilty to beating his high school Spanish teacher to death over a bad grade, has been sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 35 years.
Miller and another teen, Jeremy Goodale, both pleaded guilty in April to the 2021 killing of Nohema Graber, 66, with a baseball bat while she took her routine walk in a park. Under Goodale's guilty plea, prosecutors have recommended 25 years to life in prison, and his sentencing isn't scheduled until August.
The Spin
Narrative A
Though teenagers should face repercussions when they've committed crimes, they should not be tried as adults. Compared to adults, children have more maturing ahead of them and thus have more room for rehabilitation. When tried as adults, they receive harsher sentences than they would have in a family court and then lose out on the possibility of reversing course.
Narrative B
Whether the perpetrator is above or below 18 years of age, those who commit violent adult crimes like this should be prosecuted and sentenced as adults in many circumstances — if not for the sake of punishment, then, at least, to provide justice to the families of the victims. This is a just and preventative approach to criminal justice.