"It is not the crime but the crimininal that is to be punished" *

This is a quote on "Punishment and Deterrence" by J. Andeneas in which he sites Franz von Liszt "it is not the crime but the criminal that is to be punished" (p.1) But what happen when the criminal being punished to life in prison is a 13 year-old child whose crime was not to kill someone? I am attaching a link to The New York Times' editorial, which addresses the controversy of sentencing children under 18 years-old to life sentence, and sometimes these kids are placed in adult's cells.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/09/opinion/09mon1.html?_r=1