Read the article below and provide your opinion on the youth criminal justice issue presented in the article in the form of a carefully written paragraph.You may wish to consider the following questions when developing your response:

• Do you think justice was served in this case?Explain why or why not.
• Do you think that the Intensive Rehabilitative Custody program and Supervision order that J.R. underwent as part of her sentence is an effective way to deal with violent youth criminals?Explain why or why not.
• Do you think that this case is a good example of how the youth criminal justice system is intended to work?
• Do you think that an individual who committed the crimes that JR committed is capable of being rehabilitated?

Remember to write in full sentences.Make sure that your position is clearly stated.Draw on details from the article to help develop your response.

J.R., who stabbed family to death with boyfriend at age 12, is free after 10-year sentence

Alberta woman makes no apology as final court appearance marks end of involvement in criminal system

By Bryan Labby, CBC News May 06, 2016

An Alberta woman who became Canada's youngest

multiple killer when she helped her boyfriend stab

her parents and brother to death at age 12 is free

of any further court-ordered conditions, restrictions

or supervision after a final sentence review in

Medicine Hat on Friday.

The woman, who can only be identified as J.R. under

Canada's Youth Criminal Justice Act, thanked the

judge via closed-circuit TV, but offered no apology or

expression of remorse when she addressed the

court from an undisclosed location.

The review marked the completion of J.R.'s 10-year

sentence. She spent four years in a psychiatric

hospital, followed by 412 years under community

supervision, first in a group home and eventually

living on her own and also studying in Calgary for the

past 512 years.

J.R. was convicted of first-degree murder in the 2006

stabbing deaths of her mother, father and eight-

year-old brother. Her then 23-year-old boyfriend,

Jeremy Steinke, was also convicted of the crimes.

"I think your parents and brother would be proud of

you," Court of Queen's Bench Justice Scott

Brooker said to J.R. "Clearly you cannot undo the

past; you can only live each day with the knowledge

you can control how you behave and what you do

each day."

Brooker who has presided over J.R.'s case from

the beginning said her final review concluded she

has successfully and "without exception" met each

of the goals and targets of her rehabilitation, and

that she is considered a low risk to reoffend.

In April 2006, J.R. came up with a plan to kill her

parents and brother because she was angry that her

parents tried to stop her from dating Steinke, a

high school dropout.

Steinke confessed to killing J.R.'s parents and said

J.R. was the one who slashed her brother's throat.

He is serving three concurrent life sentences for

first-degree murder.

Some former neighbours who spoke on the

condition that they not be identified showed anger

and sadness, even though so much time has passed

since the murders of J.R.'s parents and brother.

One woman said she is disgusted that J.R.'s sentence

is already coming to an end. "If you're old enough to

do the crime, you should do the time," she told CBC

News this week.

A senior, who lives a few doors down from where

the bodies were found and also asked not to be

named, immediately teared up when asked about

the murders. "How could anyone, let alone a 12-

year-old, do that?" he said.

Outside the local mall, some longtime residents

were sympathetic. "Hopefully, she's learned her

lesson and she's an improved citizen," said Norm

Frank, who believes J.R. deserves a second chance.

"I think we need to give her a second chance

because of the age she was," said Sue England, who

lives in the same neighbourhood where J.R.'s family

was killed.

"The thing that I most think about is how she will

continue on with her life with that being a part of

her past life? ... I have sympathy for her, but you

can't imagine anybody doing something like that,"

England said.

'Poster child'

In 2007, J.R. received what was then a relatively new

sentencing option an Intensive Rehabilitative

Custody and Supervision order, or IRCS.

An IRCS order is available for "serious, violent

offenders, who may have a mental or psychological

disorder or an emotional disturbance," according to

the federal Department of Justice.

At the time of sentencing, J.R. was given 18 months

credit for time served for a total maximum sentence

of 10 years. Since the murders, J.R. has attended

court at least once or twice a year to provide

updates on her progress and has received

favourable reviews even being described as "a

poster child" for rehabilitation.

Brooker has been gradually loosening the

restrictions placed on J.R., such as curfews, since she

began the community supervision stage of her

sentence.

Crown prosecutor Ramona Robbins said J.R. has

travelled a long road toward rehabilitation, and has

benefited from a lot of supports and resources. "So

what she'll do on her own, again, time will tell," she

said.

J.R.'s defence lawyer, Katherin Beyak, said her client

has been dedicated to getting better throughout the

process. "She has made huge gains and huge

rehabilitative progress in terms of where she was to

where she is today," she said. "Society should be

satisfied with the fact that the system has worked in

this case."

As long as J.R. does not commit a criminal act as an

adult, her youth court records will be permanently

sealed five years from now, Beyak said.

She refused to make any comment about J.R.'s plans

for the future. "I would hope that she's safe and I

would hope that there won't be any backlash, or

what have you, from the community."

She 'hurt a lot of people'

Medicine Hat Mayor Ted Clugston says J.R. was so

young at the time of the killings, she should be given

another chance. But he doesn't think the young

woman should return to the community.

"No, I don't think she should. I don't think it would

be the proper place for her either," Clugston said. "It

was a terrible place for her and if she ever got

found out or recognized it probably wouldn't be in

her best interest," he added. "She tarnished our

community and hurt a lot of people."

Steinke, who now goes by the name Jackson

May, declined a request for an interview with CBC

News through the Correctional Service of Canada.

'Act of horror'

Brent Secondiak was one of the first police officers

who arrived at J.R.'s family home on April 23, 2006.

He says it took him years to get over the image of

the young boy found murdered in his bed. J.R.'s

parents were found in the basement of their split-

level home.

"I don't truly understand it an act of horror and

violence like that ... But I hope we can just find

peace and move on," said Secondiak, who is now an

inspector with the Medicine Hat Police Service.

"My biggest fear is that she hasn't [been

rehabilitated], that she's tricked those in the system,

that she hasn't moved forward ... I hope that she's

truly taken responsibility for this and is able to move

forward," Secondiak said.

Will J.R. re-offend?

Experts say it's difficult to say whether J.R. has truly

been rehabilitated and can move forward with her

life. "We've got a young woman here, who at the

age of 12 was diagnosed with oppositional defiance

disorder and conduct disorder these are two very

serious disorders," says Mark Totten, a criminal

justice professor at Humber College in Toronto and

the co-author of When Children Kill. "Fast forward

now after 10 years, after a psychiatric institution and

community supervision. Is it possible to change?

Absolutely."

Totten says the upside is that J.R. was so young

when she carried out the attacks, it gives her a

greater chance of recovery. But he says every case,

offender, and circumstance are different, so there's

no way to make a definitive statement. 'We simply

don't know. We're going to have to have this

conversation maybe five or 10 years down the road

to see if this young woman is truly capable of

maintaining the apparent positive changes she's

made to date."

Totten hopes to hear something from J.R. at Friday's

hearing. He says it would be important to hear

about the progress she's made with her schooling

and counselling, but most importantly, he says the

community needs her to accept responsibility for

what she's done.