10 replies to this topic

[J-Roc]

http://www.businessi...-comment-2013-7

 

Texas just loves giving us fodder for the Contro forum, don't they?

 

So a sort of douchey loser guy gets in an argument over a League of Legends game. He can't hack it in the argument and gets told hes "messed in the head"... responds with a retarded statement about how he would like to shoot up a kindergarten class a la Sandy Hook.

 

Police raid his place and seize his computer before charging him with a third degree felony. Hes now incarcerated pre-trial where he could face a sentence of up to ten years(!!!)

 

To what extent should kids be held accountable for what they write on the internet? Good question, and while I doubt he'll get the full weight of prosecution here I think the state is just making an example of him to scare of all the other dumb kids.

 

What do y'all think?

[Oberon Storm]

I think the kid is a moron and should have known better. Does he deserve ten years? No. I doubt he will anyway. Does he deserve to get the shit scared out of him due to this experience? Absolutely.

[Doctor Pogo]

I think it's hilarious that what he wrote is in the form of a lyric.  It's like he wrote the chorus to the next ICP single. 

 

Anyway.  Free speech, yo.  It's for everybody, including morons.  Drooling out dipshit inappropriate teenage buttrage onto one's keyboard is still free speech.

 

This should never have been a thing that representatives of government were involved in.  Sure, it's a public forum and people are going to see it and react with completely justified revulsion and anger.  Hopefully he would be shouted down and his idiocy broadly and soundly ridiculed.  That's an appropriate response to something offensive.

 

Calling the cops is not an appropriate response to being offended.

[Masamune]

Do note that he's been in prison five months already and is on suicide watch because of his experiences. He won't get the sentence, no. At least he better not. But he's already suffered waaaay more than he should have for a stupid statement. His entirely life has been upended and he's not going to get it back.

[Egann]

Give pepper spray and tasers to the teachers and we wouldn't be so worried about this kind of thing.

 

Distasteful remarks are all over the internet. In fact, they probably make up 40% of the internet. Was it a stupid thing to say? Yes, but a felony charge over that is insane.

[Jasi]

I think it's hilarious that what he wrote is in the form of a lyric.  It's like he wrote the chorus to the next ICP single. 

 

Anyway.  Free speech, yo.  It's for everybody, including morons.  Drooling out dipshit inappropriate teenage buttrage onto one's keyboard is still free speech.

 

This should never have been a thing that representatives of government were involved in.  Sure, it's a public forum and people are going to see it and react with completely justified revulsion and anger.  Hopefully he would be shouted down and his idiocy broadly and soundly ridiculed.  That's an appropriate response to something offensive.

 

Calling the cops is not an appropriate response to being offended.

 

Free speech does and should have limitations, with the classic example being yelling "fire" in a movie theater. This is along those lines. Also, being free to say something doesn't mean what you say is free of consequences.

 

That being said...

 

Do note that he's been in prison five months already and is on suicide watch because of his experiences. He won't get the sentence, no. At least he better not. But he's already suffered waaaay more than he should have for a stupid statement. His entirely life has been upended and he's not going to get it back.

 

This is what bothers me. He was just being an idiot asshole teenager. And who among us has not been an idiot asshole teenager before? He deserves to be suspended from school, or even expelled, but not put in jail. Jeeeez.

Edited by Jasi, 09 July 2013 - 12:43 PM.

[J-Roc]

I appreciate Egann again adding levity to the proceedings, making contro a true forum. Even though I don't agree with you often I appreciate that you share a view here.

 

I will say working security in malls has given me plenty of opportunities to hear the vile shit that people can say, a lot of it a hell of a lot worse then this. If I were to report it to the cops they would laugh it off as kids being kids or just me being a bitch about it. While I agree more with Jasi on this, I think we could probably all agree that there is a problem with that sort of justice disconnect, where there is no consistency in what is and what isn't and the punishment almost never fits the crime. I think that's the biggest part of why people do stuff like this, because they are a little stupid but also because they are frustrated by the hypocrisy of inconsistency. While this kid obviously said something stupid I bet he's had a hell of a lot worse said to him and I can certainly see this sentiment of "words are just words" that you seem to get from most corners of society belittles you to the point that you might think that you, too, can get away with anything.

[Mark]

I have almost nothing to say about this except that:

* is it truly reasonable to hold a person in prison at all for writing something which may (for a dumb ass) be considered seriously threatening in the context of a flame-war-type dialogue online?

* I really HATE the logic that says that we should treat younger people with reduced responcibility for no other reason than because they are young. I have in the back of my mind the idea that withholding responcibility does little good except to prolong childhood. - the dude is 18!

[Jasi]

I really HATE the logic that says that we should treat younger people with reduced responcibility for no other reason than because they are young. I have in the back of my mind the idea that withholding responcibility does little good except to prolong childhood. - the dude is 18!

 

I don't think it's withholding responsibility so much as easing up on the consequences a bit, which are maybe related but not identical responses. I do think you should cut young people more slack than adults. I'm not a neuroscientist or anything, but I'm pretty sure the brain is still all hormonal and forming a permanent personality even up to the time when people start going to college (someone can feel free to correct me on this). The idea is that because people under a certain age literally have less developed brains, we should give them more second chances than adults. You can still hold someone responsible for their actions (i.e., by finding them "guilty") while still giving them a lesser sentence that won't mess up their life so badly. 

[Nevermind]

The entirety of his arrest and incarceration seems like nothing but unjust spite on the part of the judicial system. A kid said something stupid and inappropriate and they hold him in custody and the judge sets his bond at HALF A MILLION DOLLARS, after having found NOTHING to link him to any kind of crime or plans to commit a crime and having absolutely no criminal history. The jury charged him as a potential terrorist. I have no idea how anyone can justify that as a fair hearing.

 

Yep. Fightin' the good fight.

 

 

"...nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law;"

 

 

 

 

 

@Jasi+brainstuff: From what I understand, the human brain keeps learning and developing until early to mid 20s. After that, it's just slow physical degradation for the next 60 years. Don't quote me on that.

 

(That's learning without replacing something else. Or something like that. Ask Dr Karl.)

 

 

Just read this. He's hit my opinion right on the head.

 

Spoiler

Edited by Nevermind, 10 July 2013 - 07:30 AM.

[Mark]

 

I really HATE the logic that says that we should treat younger people with reduced responcibility for no other reason than because they are young. I have in the back of my mind the idea that withholding responcibility does little good except to prolong childhood. - the dude is 18!

 

I don't think it's withholding responsibility so much as easing up on the consequences a bit, which are maybe related but not identical responses. I do think you should cut young people more slack than adults. I'm not a neuroscientist or anything, but I'm pretty sure the brain is still all hormonal and forming a permanent personality even up to the time when people start going to college (someone can feel free to correct me on this). The idea is that because people under a certain age literally have less developed brains, we should give them more second chances than adults. You can still hold someone responsible for their actions (i.e., by finding them "guilty") while still giving them a lesser sentence that won't mess up their life so badly. 

 

I think some people have less developed brains generally... but.. yeah I agree a little.