Jurors reactions to teenagers demeanor and appearance can be quite varied.

The defendants they see have aged an average of two years between the crime and the trial. Jurors may not necessarily accept expert testimony concerning recent research showing that the adolescent brain is not fully developed. Adolescent recklessness may suggest diminished responsibility to some and a terrible danger to others. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said the drop in juvenile death sentences was proof that juries could be test to sort through and weight evidence about defendants youth and culpability. From Supreme Court to Rule on Executing Young Killers Today we are witness to criminal defendants - facing life sentences without parole - who cannot shave, still play with fire trucks and love to act out scenes from television or video games.

Research suggests that adolescents squeezed through the adult system are more likely to come out as violent career criminals that similar kids handled on the juvenile side. The nations juvenile arrest rate for murder fell 68 percent from 1993 to 1999, hitting its lowest levels since 1966, according to the Justice Department. The juvenile arrest rate for violent crimes overall fell 36 percent from 1994 to 1999 From Kids are Kids

Studies showed that the performance in reasoning and understanding for youths ages sixteen and seventeen did not differ from those at least eighteen years of age. Studies found that fourteen or fifteen year olds are twice as likely to be seriously impaired in awareness and understanding. Thomas Grisso, study director, claims that even when young teens understand their immediate circumstances and the judicial proccedings, the research found there are still questions about their ability to make decisions and grasp the long-range consequences.

Kent Scheidegger, legal director of the conservative Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, said the vast majority of teenagers, even young ones, know enough to be tried in adult court. From Many Kids Called Unfit for Adult Trial In terms of cognitive development, as research on the human brain has shown, young teens are far from adulthood. These frontal lobes, which inhibits our violent passions, rash actions, and regulate our emotions, are vastly immature throughout the teenage years. From Startling Finds on Teenage Brains

Restaurants and food packers claim that eating less is a matter of individual responsibility. But thats not

how the human stomach works. If you put more food in front of people, they eat more, as studies have consistently shown over the last decade. Marketers and restaurant owners have a point: Adults are ultimately responsible for what they put in their own mouths. One way or another, as Americans wake up to the fact that obesity is killing nearly as many citizens as cigarettes are, jumbo burgers and super-size fries will seem like less of a bargain. From Its Portion Distortion that Makes America Fat The problem of obesity is so staggering, so out of control, that we have to do something, says Walter Willett, a professor of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health. The vast majority of what they sell is junk. How often do you see fruits and vegetables marketed? The increase in food marketing to children has closely tacked their increase in weight. Since 1980, the number of obese children has more than doubled to 16 percent, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control. Schools are also a major marketing site. With many school districts facing budget shortfalls, a quick solution has come from offering more profitable fast food from outlets like McDonalds, KFC, and Pizza Hut. According to Professor Willet at Harvard, We dont sell children guns, alcohol, or drugs, but we do allow them to be exploited by food companies. From If You Pitch It, They Will Eat it

Statewide, according to the Center for Public Health Advocacy, 26 percent of schoolchildren are overweight. But no one seems to want to tell parents that they need to protect their children from unhealthy food and from sloth. Fast food is fast, it can also seem cheap. If the health-care foundations did more to encourage simple healthy living policies in the home, they might make some progress against purveyors of fat and cholesterol. From The Battle Against Fast Food Begins in the Home Where, exactly, are consumers - particularly teenagers - supposed to find healthy alternatives? Drive down any street in America and I guarantee youll see one of our countrys more than 13,000 McDonalds restaurants. Now, drive back up the block and try to find some place to buy a grapefruit. Fast-Food companies are marketing to children a product with proven health hazards and no warning labels. They would do well to protect themselves and their customers by providing nutritional information people need to make informed decisions. From Dont Blame the Eater