> These people shouldn’t get a free pass because they were almost-adults rather than legal adults at the time of the crime.

I personally disagree with this. A specific age must be decided between children and adults - let's say 18 (depends on the country). What would be a good clear definition of "almost adults"? 17? In that case, just make the adult age 17. Then you'll get the exact same argument for 16 year old kids committing crimes.

There is no logical reason to consider children adults.