“You’re not showing any remorse, Dakotah. I’m not saying it in a bad way, but is something wrong with your head? Do you have problems with thinking? I mean, because you’re a very intelligent young man.” Steve told him to imagine what would happen “if you weren’t my kid, and I was in this room with the person that shot my dad.”

Ester Bloom, a writer and editor, recommends two stories by Rachel Aviv from The New Yorker: “These pieces by Aviv are about parents, children, and a legal system that tries to do its best by both parties as well as society at large, and ends up shortchanging everyone.”

“No Remorse.” (Jan. 2, 2012)

A 14-year-old is tried as an adult for killing his grandfather.

Where Is Your Mother? (Dec. 2, 2013)

A mother whose child is taken away becomes increasingly desperate in her attempts to win him back.