Write Lightning is a blog from writer Deb Thompson.
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Fri, Dec 05 2003
LeRoy McCullough: No Knee-Jerk Judge There
Two twelve-year-olds got themselves an interesting sentence after they fired BB guns at a teen in a wheelchair in Washington. I did a little digging and found that this is not the first instance of Judge McCullough using practical justice, common sense and restitution in dealing with the misdeeds of children and teens. He's a wise man, in my opinion. Once courts begin to push a juvenile offender toward incarceration the child is then further alienated from family and society, plus the child learns the additional behaviors of other, perhaps more experienced and hardened, offenders. I'm all for justice, but we all know that the worst career criminals ever produced got their best education in crime right in the prison system. I do believe I would have added one more thing to the sentencing in this particular case. I would have made the parents or guardians do community service right alongside the boys. It might save a big headache and more court costs down the line if the whole family learns to work together now.
posted at: 09:07 | category: /Miscellaneous | link to this entry
Two twelve-year-olds got themselves an interesting sentence after they fired BB guns at a teen in a wheelchair in Washington. I did a little digging and found that this is not the first instance of Judge McCullough using practical justice, common sense and restitution in dealing with the misdeeds of children and teens. He's a wise man, in my opinion. Once courts begin to push a juvenile offender toward incarceration the child is then further alienated from family and society, plus the child learns the additional behaviors of other, perhaps more experienced and hardened, offenders. I'm all for justice, but we all know that the worst career criminals ever produced got their best education in crime right in the prison system. I do believe I would have added one more thing to the sentencing in this particular case. I would have made the parents or guardians do community service right alongside the boys. It might save a big headache and more court costs down the line if the whole family learns to work together now.
posted at: 09:07 | category: /Miscellaneous | link to this entry
