With fantasy soccer season over (house league champion, proper right here), I’ve began going via the again catalog of a few of my favourite podcasts, one being Ryan Vacation’s The Each day Dad. I’ve beforehand written about his The Daily Stoic podcast, and they’re each value a pay attention.
I just lately got here throughout an installment titled “Tell Them Before It’s Too Late.” Based on Vacation’s present notes, “An accident, a mistake—regardless of the intention, regardless of how candy the kid or loving the father or mother—can irrevocably change a life.” All through the brief dialogue, Vacation expounds on high-stakes on a regular basis life selections and the truth that these selections can usually have life-altering outcomes, which might not often be reversed. He analyzes this concept via the prism of the music “I Hung My Head.”
I hadn’t heard that tune in many years. I’ve beforehand written about how music can convey authorized matters, so I assumed there may be one thing there for a future column. With this purpose in thoughts, I made a decision to revisit and analyze the music myself.
‘I Hung My Head’
Singer/songwriter Sting initially wrote and recorded “I Hung My Head” for his 1996 album Mercury Falling. It tells the story of a younger man, or maybe a boy (as Vacation describes him), who sneaks away along with his brother’s rifle to follow his intention. The boy attracts a bead on a person driving a horse within the distance; to his shock, the rifle by accident fires, killing the rider.
The boy runs from the scene, throwing the rifle in a stream. Authorities ultimately discover and arrest him. He seems in court docket, and the choose finally sentences him to dying. The music’s story revolves round themes of remorse, concern, confusion and forgiveness/redemption.
Now, as I discussed earlier, I’m utilizing the time period “boy” loosely. There isn’t any dialogue I might discover concerning the shooter’s age in accordance with Sting, however I’ve all the time felt that it was a younger teen. Maybe that stems from how reckless the boy was with the rifle. Why follow your intention on a human if you understand the potential penalties? Shoot a can as an alternative.
Within the years since its preliminary launch, “I Hung My Head” has been coated by each Johnny Money and Bruce Springsteen. In reality, for those who carry out a Google seek for the observe’s title, it’s Money’s model that seems at the beginning. Which will have one thing to do with Money’s legendary standing—to not take something away from Sting. It might additionally outcome from the truth that many desire Money’s model, because the western theme appears to suit with Money’s function as arguably county music’s first “outlaw.”
Johnny Money sits with an acoustic guitar in a nonetheless from the 1967 movie The Highway To Nashville, directed by Will Zens. Photograph by Hulton Archive/Getty Pictures.
Kids and felony legal responsibility
Bear in mind, we’re working on the premise that the shooter in “I Hung My Head” is a boy as an alternative of a person. I do know I’ll obtain a minimum of a number of emails arguing this level, however I firmly imagine this music leaves his age as much as interpretation—it’s completely different than a state of affairs like Skid Row’s superior hair steel hit “18 and Life.” We’ve bought numbers to work with there. We don’t with “I Hung My Head,” so let’s roll with what we’ve.
With that settled, how does the legislation deal with a juvenile (somebody below 18) accused of homicide? Perhaps the very best place to begin is to distinguish the precise felony legal responsibility we’re discussing. Would this reality sample represent homicide or a much less extreme type of murder?
First-degree homicide requires the prosecution to show malice aforethought. Mainly, they have to show an intentional killing—the “planning” or premeditation side. Second-degree homicide then again continues to be a deliberate act, however it doesn’t carry the identical “planning” side. That type of murder is often akin to an act dedicated within the warmth of ardour.
Manslaughter, nonetheless, is reserved for conditions the place the killing was not intentional, and there was no planning—it often applies in circumstances the place the dying was the results of an accident or another commonplace that falls under intent. In the identical vein, some jurisdictions even have a negligent murder cost, which covers conditions the place somebody maybe hit a person with a car and killed them. Different jurisdictions additionally take care of felony homicide, which happens when a person dies in the course of the fee of a felony.
The information offered in Sting’s music almost certainly equate to a manslaughter cost. Whereas the boy meant to level the gun at one other human, thus creating an inherently lethal state of affairs, it’s clear from his shock and the additional realization that he didn’t imply to shoot the rider. On the finish of the day, that could be a reality query for a jury to think about, however it appears to be the proper conclusion.
So, what about culpability? At widespread legislation, the “rule of sevens” was utilized to find out felony and tort legal responsibility for kids. Kids below 7 weren’t thought-about accountable for his or her felony or tortious acts. Moreover, there was a rebuttable presumption that youngsters aged 7 to 14 lacked the capability to be held liable. Conversely, there was a rebuttable presumption that youngsters/adults aged 14 to 21 did have the capability to be held chargeable for their actions.
Because the music appears to be set in a Wild West period, we are able to use widespread legislation theories to decipher the state of affairs. The boy was almost certainly a minimum of between the ages of seven and 14, if not a bit older. There would have possible been arguments in favor of manslaughter versus homicide and relating to his capability to be held responsible for his actions. Because the music ends with him awaiting execution, although, we are able to assume the court docket discovered he had the capability to be held responsible for the cost of homicide, almost certainly.
Defending youngsters in an grownup system
Fortunately, in at this time’s day and age, youngsters can now not be executed for his or her crimes. Ever for the reason that Supreme Courtroom’s landmark determination in Roper v. Simmons (2005), imposing the dying penalty on juveniles below 18 has been unconstitutional. The excessive court docket’s determination overruled the prior precedent set by Stanford v. Kentucky, which upheld the execution of offenders at or above the age of 16.
However exclusion from capital punishment doesn’t imply offenders below 18 get a free move. Juveniles convicted of homicide can nonetheless be sentenced to life with out the potential of parole and never for another crime of conviction. After the Supreme Courtroom’s determination in Graham v. Florida, juveniles convicted of any offense apart from murder can not obtain that punishment.
But many younger offenders convicted of great crimes don’t obtain the advantage of processing their circumstances fully via the juvenile court docket system. Various jurisdictions, together with my house state of Oklahoma, have “youthful offender” legal guidelines on the books that take away particular felony allegations from the juvenile system to the grownup area primarily based on the cost and the age of the accused.
Consequently, minors are additionally subjected to the total power of an grownup felony system when charged as a youthful offender after which licensed for grownup punishment. These conditions can simply finish in minors serving prolonged jail sentences. Furthermore, there are numerous intricacies and potential pitfalls concerned in navigating a sometimes-confusing system, and it takes a pilot with expertise to make sure the aircraft doesn’t crash and burn.
However that shouldn’t shock anybody. Anytime we take care of a juvenile going through extreme penalties, the stakes are raised, and the eye to element should be heightened. There may be an excessive amount of to lose when potential misplaced youth.
Adam Banner
Adam R. Banner is the founder and lead legal professional of the Oklahoma Legal Group, a felony protection legislation agency in Oklahoma Metropolis. His follow focuses solely on state and federal felony protection. He represents the accused in opposition to allegations of intercourse crimes, violent crimes, drug crimes and white-collar crimes.
The examine of legislation isn’t for everybody, but its follow and process appears to permeate popular culture at an growing fee. This column is concerning the intersection of legislation and popular culture in an try to separate the true from the ridiculous.
This column displays the opinions of the creator and never essentially the views of the ABA Journal—or the American Bar Affiliation.
