Letters: Locking up a child

Of course there's conflict and confusion about what to do with the Riverside County boy who killed his neo-Nazi father. The process has been flawed from the beginning.

Only 10 years old when he acted, his lawyers say the boy had been abused by a father consumed with vitriolic hatred. Child Protective Services had contact with the boy or his family 23 times yet failed to intervene effectively.

As a psychologist contracted by the boy's attorney's testified, "You could have predicted" the shooting.

A compassionate society would have placed the boy in a secure treatment facility after the shooting. Instead, he was pushed into the criminal justice system and taken to court in chains.

This kid has already served a punitive 10-year sentence at the hands of his father. More punishment is not what he needs.

http://articles.latimes.com/2013/oct/30/opinion/la-le-1030-wednesday-boy-killed-neo-nazi-father-20131030