This is a very disturbing story, moreso when you really think about it.
A 15-year-old boy was sentenced this morning to six years in state prison for his role in a plot to shoot fellow students and faculty last spring at Winslow Township High School.
(…)
Initially charges with terrorism, the four were arrested after a girlfriend of one reported the plan to school officials.
All four admitted their role in the plan, two in juvenile court and two in adult court. Those in juvenile court have yet to be sentenced. The other in adult court — Peter Cunningham, 16 — was sentenced on Sept. 22 to five years.
On the surface, a 15 year old kid was sentenced to six years in state prison because he was planning to shoot up his school with a handgun, right? Well, keep reading, because it gets so, so much worse.
The teens in the Philadelphia suburb were never able to get a gun. School officials heard about the plans and the boys were arrested before anyone was hurt.
(…)
All four pleaded guilty to conspiring to possess a handgun.
Yeah, you read that right. No handgun. They tried, allegedly, but they found it harder than they thought. In the end they were just a bunch of kids daydreaming about killing people, and maybe making it on the news. The kid was 15. Sure, he should be punished, but 6 years in state prison is harsh and very, very counter-productive.
Philip K. Dick’s vision of crime prevention in Minority Report seems eerily plausible.
That’s actually pretty scary, but you have to take into account that they pled guilty.
They did, but who knows what they were told before hand. They may have been coerced, lied to, etc.
Besides, just because they admitted to it doesn’t mean it isn’t a bullshit charge.
:O
/me shudders.
I’m glad the school/police was able to crack down on the students. And I don’t think it has anything to do with thought crimes. They planned it out, and /tried/ to get their hands on a gun. If they just talked about it and did nothing that’s a different case, but they did try.
So what they didn’t get the handgun as easy as they thought they could. They shouldn’t be able to get it easily anyways.
Would you be saying the same thing if they /were/ able to get their hands on a gun and shoot up the school? I doubt it. So it was a preventative measure, and they had enough evidence, including the actual students admitting to it.
He pointed out that they should be punished. It’s just that 6 years is way too much for someone who didn’t even manage to get a weapon.
They deserved punishment, but being charged with terrorism as an adult and being sentenced to six years in federal prison is much too excessive, especially since this was caught at such an early stage.
Also, I put the reference to Minority Report in there for a reason: what if they were going to give up after not getting a handgun? What if they never were actually going to go through with it?
They conspired to illegally obtain a handgun, and should have been punished accordingly, but they weren’t terrorists.
Must have missed that part, sorry. What instead would you suggest they do?
But they tried to go through with it. If they were stupid enough to get caught, do you think they’d be smart enough to stop even /if/ they did get their hands on a gun?