Nathaniel Abraham is believed to be the youngest American ever charged and convicted of murder as an adult.  The case is a troubling example of a criminal justice system that has become too aggressive and misguided in its approach to youthful offenders.

"The United States lags behind much of the rest of the world in its treatment of children in the criminal justice system," says Curt Goering, Senior Deputy Executive Director of Amnesty International USA.  "As America exhorts other nations to uphold basic human rights principles, we should begin with the ABCs of human rights and treat our own young offenders as children - not as adults."

"Unfortunately, our nation is moving in the wrong direction - placing punishment of child offenders over prevention and rehabilitation," Goering says.  "This trend to prosecute and punish children as adults is inconsistent with international standards. The Convention on the Rights of the Child - ratified by every nation in the world except the U.S. and Somalia - establishes standards for the treatment of children that the United States routinely flouts."

Studies have shown that juveniles tried and sentenced as adults are, when they are released, more likely to revert to crime more quickly -- and to commit more serious crimes -- than those tried and sentenced within the juvenile justice system.

Children in the criminal justice system need special care, including education and mental health counseling, to prepare them for reintegration into society.  As Goering explains, "A juvenile justice system that recognizes that children are capable of growing and changing will protect society and children far more than the flood of harsh and inflexible sentences that many state legislatures are requiring juries and judges to impose."