We're From the Country and We STILL Like It That Way

We heard something on television this week that shocked, troubled, and surprised us in Chuckonia. At our current place of employment (the Tennessee State Capitol), one of our superiors likes to watch Court TV. On Thursday morning, they broadcast the sentencing of a 16-year-old boy who murdered his father at age 14. The real question was, naturally, should the boy (Cody Posey) be sentenced as an adult or as a juvenile. Sentencing him as a juvenile would basically make him a free young man on his 21st birthday. The judge, under New Mexico law, sentenced him to detention and treatment/counseling as a minor. Not knowing enough specifics of the case, except that the father severely abused his son/killer, we are not here to comment on the rightness or wrongness of sentencing young Cody as a minor. We rather seek to discuss part of the judge's reasoning for his overall sentencing "package deal."
While announcing his ruling, the judge presented to the parties of the case the list of factors he took into account when determining if the defendant would respond to treatment if sentenced as a minor and, in fact, whether or not he believed that Cody Posey would kill again. One of the factors by which the judge determined that Cody would not kill again was that his "rural upbringing contributed to a general lack of street smarts." Having been brought up in a rural setting also, we applaud the fact that such a past, apparently, reduces our amount of responsibility and potential as a repeat murderer. However, in a vague attempt at objectivity, it is troubling that such a factor even came into consideration by the judge when developing his ruling. We would be very concerned about the state of American jurisprudence if an urban youth under the same at-home circumstances killed his father but was put away for the rest of his life because he had more access to street smarts and, therefore, was considered more of a risk to kill again. In conclusion, we're proud of our country, non-urban heritage but do not wish to put it to the test on trial for murder.
The moral of our ramblings - country folk, please don't kill. It's hazardous to someone's health (maybe your own).