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Punishment can be far more severe in an adult court. Last March in California, two boys of 17 who raped and attempted to murder a young woman were each sentenced to 72 years to life in prison by an adult court. Neither will be eligible for parole until he is 65.
Until now the U.S. Supreme Court has not set maximum limits on the punishment of youthful criminals. But the court is currently considering a juvenile death penalty case.
In 1977 Monty Lee Eddings, then 16, murdered an Oklahoma highway patrolman with a sawed-off shotgun; he was condemned to death by an adult court. His lawyers have asked the Justices to rule that death is a disproportionate penalty for so young an offender. However the court rules, though, the public mood apparently holds that anyone old enough to commit the crime is old enough to pay the price.