Orrin Hatch: “we were all shocked and saddened by the tragic shooting incident at the Thurston High School in Springfield, Oregon. I…”

“we were all shocked and saddened by the tragic shooting incident at the Thurston High School in Springfield, Oregon. I listened with sympathy this morning to my colleagues from Oregon, and share their sentiments. My heart goes out to the victims of this horrendous crime, and my prayers are with the injured, and with the families of all the victims in the Springfield community. I know that every parent or grandparent who sends a child to school shares the grief of the Springfield families. This kind of tragedy has become far too common. It was only two months ago that we were shocked by the violence and horror of the schoolyard shooting in Jonesboro, Arkansas. Every day, it seems, we are assailed by new stories of senseless crimes committed by juveniles who should be too young to be capable of such acts. Our juvenile crime problem has taken a new and sinister direction. I can imagine few acts more heinous than some of the crimes recently committed by juveniles around the country. We seem now to be in a new era, in which juveniles are committing sophisticated adult crimes. This disturbing trend demonstrates the need to reform the juvenile justice system that is failing the victims of juvenile crime, failing too many of our young people, and ultimately, failing society.”