Juveniles

A young man from Garden Grove man and four youths, stopped by Costa Mesa police while driving through an industrial area at 3:20 a.m. Monday, were arrested on suspicion of possessing stolen property, authorities said. "There was no reason for them to be driving around there," Costa Mesa Police Lt. Tom Durham said Monday. He was referring to the industrial complex at Cadillac and Scenic avenues, in the northwest corner of the city.

California prisons hold 249 inmates sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for crimes committed when they were juveniles, but only two are likely to win review of their sentences following a Monday ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, state prison officials said. Correction officials said only three juvenile offenders in the state have been sent away for life without parole for crimes other than murder, and one was resentenced last year when a state appeals court came to the same conclusion as the high court that the sentence for a youth offender constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.

When the Supreme Court ruled in 2005 that executing juveniles amounted to cruel and unusual punishment, the author of the majority opinion, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, made two convincing arguments: that juveniles are less capable of appreciating the consequences of their actions than are adults (something every parent knows) and that putting them to death violated "evolving standards of decency." On Monday the court, again in an opinion by Kennedy, rightly concluded that the same considerations make it unconstitutional to sentence minors to life in prison without the possibility of parole for offenses other than murder.

A federal judge today declared unconstitutional the District of Columbia's curfew law for juveniles designed to reduce drug-related violence in the nation's capital. U.S. District Judge Charles Richey said the law "subjects the district's juveniles to virtual house arrest each night" and "is a bull in a china shop of constitutional values." He said the law fails to differentiate among juveniles likely to involve themselves in mischief or among activities most likely to produce harm.

This letter is in response to "Police Actions Causing Teens to Drive Drunk," by Stephanie Zambukos (Letters, Nov. 21). I can't believe the ignorance of some people, blaming the police (yet again, for something else). This time for the high teen DUI rate. Well, since we're blaming people, let's blame the victims, after all, they're the ones who called the police. Or maybe we should blame the parents who knowingly allow their children to attend these parties. Better yet, let's blame the irresponsible juveniles who drink to excess.

Two teenagers are in custody in the slaying of a 38-year-old Rosemead man who was shot to death Monday in his car, authorities said. Dan Tho Lu was pronounced dead at the scene in the 2400 block of Troy Avenue, officials said. Sheriff's deputies received a report of two shots fired about 8:30 p.m. Witnesses identified the two teenagers as the alleged assailants, Deputy Cruz Solis said. "Both juveniles were seen standing by the victim's vehicle.

The boy was 10 when a slightly older neighbor in his northeastern Michigan town asked him to play. The two climbed into a treehouse with the neighbor's 9-year-old sister. There, he said, the neighbor told the boy to have sex with the girl. "I didn't know what I was doing," said the boy, now 18, who asked that his name not be used because of fear of harassment. "It was kind of like me and a girl playing doctor."

A 19-year-old man was shot in the head Saturday, and police have detained a 17-year-old boy in connection with the shooting. The victim, whose name was not released pending notification of relatives, remained in critical condition at UCI Medical Center in Orange, said Cypress Police Sgt. Mike Idom. Police were called to an apartment in the 5600 block of Newman Avenue shortly before noon.