This person DID something HE SHOULD NOT have.
That resolved in someones death
He even admitted to doing it. Even IF he was only dropping a LARGE rock on the freeway…AS I was just shooting Fireworks at your HOME, to SEE what would happen.
Would I’ be held responsible for the fire??
I WOULD HOPE SO!!!
So, should he be held responsible?? NOT just a slap on the wrists??
I AINT saying ‘Life for Life’…I have said it a few times…

Was that a question or a statement? Of course, I would be very upset. But in our society, the accused gets a fair trial. If I and my friends grabbed you and exacted our pound of flesh, that would make us vigilantes. Our own behavior would most likely be illegal and subject us to arrest.

We give an accused person the right to a fair trial. That includes an impartial Judge and Jury. Because I am involved, I would be neither impartial nor fair.

When we pass judgment and expect a specific result without participating in the trial, then we become no better then the person’s action that we accuse him of. We will never agree with every court case outcome. We should, however, make the attempt to understand the reason for the Judge’s decision before imposing our own judgment.

the KID WAS 15, and is NOW 19. In all honesty, if he had been in jail in that time, It would have ended soon.
If he had Kicked a rock off the overpass,
If he had been leaning on the rock, and it fell over the top,
But, It looks like 2 persons Carried a LARGE ROCK(basketball size) to the top of an over pass, to drop it onto the freeway…
Why??
To make a HOLE in the road?
To see if the Rock would break??
To Make a traffic Concern?
to drop on a car??
To watch it BOUNCE??
To scare an Oncoming Car??
to see what would happen if someone Ran over it??

and the parents didnt instill into them WHAT cars are like?? WHAT, the kid thought a car, is like a tank??
Even if the intent wasnt to HIT a car. they were deliberately placing a Obsticle into a traffic situation. IF this is a freeway, then that only gives the driver 3-5 seconds to see and decide WHAT TO DO.
HITTING a moving car, is NOT easy, and takes abit of planing and timing. It is much easier to MISS a car, then to HIT one. and they couldnt HEAR one coming?? Or didnt care enough to LOOK at the other SIDE of the overpass.
I will mention something HERE. I had to grow up EARLY and fast in my life. But dropping a ROCK the size of a basket ball onto a FREEWAY, has never occured to me. Rocks and pebbles, MAYBE. But a small boulder, that probably weighed about 20 lbs, 7-9 kilos???

Oncoming traffic speed, 50mph, 80Kph, plus the acceleration of a 20 lbs ROCK from 50 feet….OWWW.. Intercepting a car at such a speed?? VERY HARD., could have shot the car with a bazooka easier, and done about as much damage.(without explosives). Might as well sit in town and fire your 9mm, 30.06 into the air at random…. AND PRAY you dont hit someone… And if I did that, and DID hit someone, what would the outcome be?? a small fine?? He has to remember what happened, and get ENOUGH education to THINK about occurrances. AT LEAST get Cause and affect, INTO HIS HEAD.

I would at least get him to do as I suggested before. go talk with those in jail, that MADE little mistakes. And Write them down. and write up his OWN, and them submit them to the Jude for evaluation, and grading.

I said earlier, the US is the only western country that puts punishment ahead of rehabilitation. To the point where it is a foreign concept to a great many if not most Americans. So many people have mentioned on this subject and similar ones that suggest “hey he killed someone, lock ‘im up for life”. (Of course I am paraphrasing) Your last paragraph raises that issue. The choice is do we waste another person to a life as a hardened criminal or help him rejoin society as a useful member.

I think there is a disconnect between dropping a rock onto a freeway and torching a man. While the result may be the same, torching is much more up close and personal. Dropping the rock doesn’t show you the victim. Torching a person is much more psychopathic in my opinion. It is almost the same as a garrote vs poison.

Shoot, the kid is 15. We won’t allow a 15 yr old to drive a car or drop out of school (except in Mississippi maybe) simply because we recognize they are too immature to make a responsible decision. When I was 15, I did some things that I shouldn’t have. No one got hurt, but I still shouldn’t have done them. It was only a few years later that I fully realized the importance of my errors in judgment. My life has turned out fairly alright. I’m sure most people on this blog could tell a story of when they did something very stupid / dangerous / illegal at that age, so my life is nothing special. When 15 yr olds are tried in adult court, it is usually for an extremely violent crime such as 1st degree murder or extremely vicious assault. Manslaughter is rarely tried in adult court..

If I sat on that bench, would I have given him the same sentence? I don’t know. When the victim’s family stand up and say they don’t want the boy to be sent to jail, that would truly influence any decision. Then, would ten years hard time stop someone else from doing the same thing? No. Because when people commit a crime they don’t do it with the thought of getting caught. The prevention of a crime has more to do with the responsibilities and maturity of the person; how wrong they view it. For example, we all know speeding is more dangerous as well as illegal, yet we ALL do it because we believe we won’t have an accident or be caught.

For his pre-sentence report, I’m sure he was evaluated psychologically for psychopathic tendencies. I also feel confident that he would attend any counseling ordered by his probation officer. And every day when he looks in the mirror, he will remember he killed a man. And no sentence would top that.

Did you read the story? The guilty guy stepped forward to prevent another guy from being charged, and the victims family requested that he not serve any jail time.

It is highly unlikely he was dropping the stone to miss, so his intention was to hit a car. That makes it a deliberate, conscious act. A 15 year old, unless retarded and nothing in the article indicates he was, should know that a rock that big will cause damage. A non-retarded 15 year old should know he could kill someone.

In a situation like this, a mistake would be tossing the rock without looking, not realizing it would go over the side. The article indicates he was the “ringleader” of a group delibertately tossing rocks onto vehicles. A “serious mistake in judgement” would be tossing a small stone at a car. Tossing a large, heavy rock as big as he did is not a mistake. It was done to cause deliberate damage. This indicates a desire to hurt someone. Other 15 year olds (and younger) who deliberately hurt or kill people are often tried as adults such as the teenagers who set a homeless man on fire some years ago. I suppose you’d consider that was a “mistake” on their parts as youngsters playing around.

The problem is we don’t have a resonable alternative for this kid. Jail, mental institution or house arrest. Too much or not enough. What he really needs is intense counciling to get the training to be a caring, thnking human being that he apparently never got at home.

Also I do see what your saying about punishment now. It is a good point but i still think for a issue where a person is killed jail time should happen.

He made a serious mistake in judgment. I doubt if the word “perfectly” may be used to describe a mistake in judgment, unless you are so warped that you agree with his actions. A perfect mistake is an oxymoron.

Um, because the potential for “revenge” (or “justice”, or “retribution”, or “reckoning”, etc.) is the only thing that prevents more “mistakes”?

Justice is not synonymous with revenge, retribution or reckoning. That is the fatal error in your comment. Justice is doing what is right. Revenge, retribution, and reckoning mean “getting even” or “settling the score”. And no, “revenge” is not the only way of preventing more mistakes.

He didn’t make a mistake, though. He did it perfectly.
A “mistake” is doing something imperfectly.

“But why do all these unrelated people crave revenge!?!?!?”

Um, because the potential for “revenge” (or “justice”, or
“retribution”, or “reckoning”, etc.) is the only thing that
prevents more “mistakes”?

Until the next post

The kid made a stupid, horrendous mistake. No doubt he freaked himself out as well. I’m sure he’s not enjoying the consequences, light as some people think they are. Maybe he could even be trained to talk to teens about the consequences of their actions or something.

But why do all these unrelated people crave revenge!?!?!?