Apparently this is a thing...

[reba]

 

[AirDancer]

One of my offspring is in law enforcement. I've learned quite the lot how law enforcement's hands are being tied more and more, basically because of the local state's attorney. The criminals seem to have more rights than the victims these days, which is absolutely wrong.

 

[jasoncran]

One of my offspring is in law enforcement. I've learned quite the lot how law enforcement's hands are being tied more and more, basically because of the local state's attorney. The criminals seem to have more rights than the victims these days, which is absolutely wrong.

lawyers and the aclu.

 

[AirDancer]

One particular case concerned a guy already on probation, who had a gun & even fired it into the air above a group of people. The states attorney decided to add a couple of months to his probation as opposed to seeking a prison term. The guy's attorney was shocked. So were the members of law enforcement who caught the guy after he & his accomplice tried to flee the scene, even though police were on the scene & tried to stop them at that point. (The accomplice had his arrest/case dismissed, with nothing more than a slap on the wrist, even though he was the driver of the car when they tried to elude the officers.)

 

[reba]

Do states attorneys get paid by the conviction, the case , or salary?

 

[AirDancer]

Unfortunately, by salary (in my state, anyway). And it will be a while before we can vote for someone else to take that job, if anyone else (who is qualified) would only put his/her name up for election in opposition. Seems as tho no one else wants the job

 

[Barbarian]

Where we lived 20 years ago a woman was shot in the head twice listed as suicide ... point: are government reports to be believed?

In fact, the number of cases of police cover-up seem to be declining, also. So that would make the decline in crime ever greater than the statistics suggest.

It's not hard to figure out. Young males commit the great majority of violent crimes. The aging of the population reduces crime. Nothing surprising about that.

 

[Barbarian]

Do states attorneys get paid by the conviction, the case , or salary?

Do you seriously want DA's paid for each conviction? People being what they are, there would be an overwhelming incentive to send innocent people to prison.

No, that's a really, really, bad idea.

 

[Mike S]

What am I talking about? "Affluenza"

If you have never heard the term before, which hadn't until this news story: http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justic...r-drunk-driving-deaths.-His-defense-Affluenza.

It is a defense where an underage person is not responsible for their actions because their parents never set any boundaries.

Are you kidding me!?!?!?

This kid killed 4 people while driving drunk.

Let that sink in a bit. He was drinking (under age), and was driving (illegal in every state), and they would not give him anything more than probation because of this "affluenza" crap!

To add to this little circus the judge is not going to seek re-election after the end of her current term.

She has really dropped the ball on this one, not to mention the parents.

The judge should have taken this opportunity to send a strong message to parents. If you are unwilling to take care of things at home then we will take care of things in the legal system when your child gets out of line.

Quite honestly any parent that is so apathetic about the raising of their own children should be looked at with as much scrutiny as any poor person who is accused of child abuse/neglect.

Something else to consider is, if the courts are unwilling to hold the child responsible for their actions, then maybe the parents should do some jail time.

Thoughts?

I'm familiar with it. It's almost unavoidable that rich, well-connected people will get easier treatment from prosecutors. I think there's just a subliminal attitude of going easy on good kids so as not to ruin their lives for mistakes. It's wrong, but I don't think it's going away.

I see the other side of this with the inner city boys I mentor. They do not have rich, well-connected parents. They are poor, and live in dysfunctional families and communities. They end up in court for even the most minor of incidents, things we would have just had a father or neighbor firmly straighten us on when I was a kid. It's a challenge keeping them out of trouble and out of juvie, but they do grow up and most become good young men.