Estoy feliz con la decisión de la Corte Suprema de Justicia de declarar como anticonstitucional que se condene a la pena de muerte o a cadena perpetua a los menores edad, sea cual sea el crimen que hayan cometido, hasta asesinato.

Estoy feliz, repito,  porque estoy convencida de que un adolescente aunque sepa en teoría que lo que está haciendo está mal, todavía no tiene ni el cerebro (este órgano no termina de crecer sino hasta los 21 en el caso de las mujeres y 25 en el de los hombres), ni el contexto para comprender la magnitud de las consecuencias de sus actos.

Recent evidence has shown that the Trayvon Martin investigation is still far from over. Just a few days after the FBI said they were examining whether Martin's shooter, George Zimmerman, should be charged with a hate crime, a wealth of new information related to the case--including photos of a bruised Zimmerman, medical reports, and witness accounts--was released to the pubilc.

One piece of information that has drawn lots of negative attention? A medical's examiner's findings that the 17-year-old Martin had traces of THC (an active ingredient in marijuana) in his system in an autopsy conducted just hours after his death. The discovery has fueled arguments in favor of Zimmerman and placed new blame on Martin--which I find, quite honestly, to just be ridiculous.  

Sometimes, if we are lucky, we can make a difference in someone's life. That is why I have an enormous appreciation for people that bring important things to my attention, things that I have failed to see on my own. I am hoping that if you haven't heard about Jacqueline Montañez, you will feel the same way I felt when I learned about her.

Jacqueline was arrested when she was just 15 years old for the murder of two young men (rival gang members in her Humboldt Park neighborhood of Chicago) in 1992. She was subsequently sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.