and this is what happens when adults have a reasonable discussion with an open mind … disgusting
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Seriously, fuck you bitches. 
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The fact that he’s autistic (or any type of mental difference) makes it worse because you’re trying to be rational with an irrational person. An excited individual isn’t always rational. Add to that the autistic side and it’s even worse.
We in law enforcement couldn’t agree more. We hate the fact that we get called to come assist with an out of control child (autistic or not). In most cases the child is labeled as bipolar, depressed, schizophrenic, etc. The reality (in most cases) is that the child is a spoiled pain in the ass and should’ve been corrected (with physical pain compliance discipline) at a younger age. They don’t have a disorder but everyone wants the easy answer and an excuse for the terrible behavior. It’s never “you’re a lazy ass parent.” It’s always someone or someone else’s fault. By the time we’re involved the child is too big to be spanked and since their parents didn’t discipline them at an early age they have no respect for them. It’s a horrible situation.
In this situation and many others referenced by @Despade there isn’t always a simple and peaceful solution. Sometimes the kids just need to be restrained until they chill out so they don’t hurt themselves or others in the house. We’re thankful for people who work with those children and handle it their way instead of calling us and putting us in a terrible position. Use of force on a child is a no win situation.
Case and point:
I had three juveniles in a stolen car bail at an apartment complex before I could even get to them. I drove alongside in my car momentarily but the complex was set up to hide. I was by myself. I couldn’t identify the driver. I could have chased the slower one and tackled him, but why? He wasn’t driving and wouldn’t be charged with a crime (he wouldn’t be charged even if he was the driver). I probably would have hurt him in some way (lawsuit). And I would have been outnumbered 3 to 1 if they decided to stay and fight. Now I could handle myself but if one of them grabbed my gun that’s attempted robbery and if I lose my gun I assume I’m going to be shot with it. So now we have a deadly force situation. See how quickly things can escalate?
I never got out of my car. I let them go and went back to the stolen car. I called the owner and they came and got it. No charges, no nothing. It sucks, but it’s reality. I’ve stopped known thieves in stolen cars and they do not get charged with auto theft. At best they get possession of stolen property. It’s usually more like a misdemeanor citation for criminal deprivation of property or worse, nothing at all. The justice system sucks.
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My wife’s car was stolen out of our driveway a few weeks ago. The individual was found with meth, other car keys and stolen merchandise. What did he get charged with? Unlawful use of a vehicle.
It takes too much time, effort, and money to try, convict, and imprison these people. My solution is quite simple and kind of inspired by the the book The Scarlet Letter.
First misdemeanor theft–that’s your warning, pay a fine and be warned…
Second theft (and every one thereafter) regardless of value–Lose a finger, pay restitution.
This accomplishes two things:
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it actually costs the thief something. In most cases, even if he’s caught and charged he gets probation. He never returns the items and doesn’t typically pay restitution (at least nothing close to what he’s taken).
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it tells the rest of the world when they’re dealing with a thief.
This would also save money on keeping them in jail. Simply remove the finger and send them on their way.
And most importantly these people would disqualified from any government assistance for disability due to the loss of fingers/hands as a result of their crimes.
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Which finger would you like removed?
I’d be merciful and start with the pinky just in case they decide to become productive members of society. They’ll need those fingers for their unskilled labor. I’d do the pinky on each hand, then ring finger, and so on alternating back and forth. They could still mow and trim weeds with just thumbs, index, and middle fingers. That gives them 5 convictions to figure it out. After that if they continue then they clearly don’t care so losing the entire hand will eliminate their ability to grab things to steal.
Good choice. Punishment for crimes nowadays has lost all of its punishing ability.
Bring back public hangings dammit.
Wait. You’re saying punish misdemeanors with lopping off a finger?
After your first one. So your first conviction is your only “free pass” at stealing and getting caught. If you know anything about our system then you know that convictions aren’t always the outcome even if someone is caught red handed. There’s always diversion for the smaller crimes such as misdemeanor theft.
And juveniles don’t get treated like adults. The goal of the justice system with them is to educate them and prevent future problems instead of punishing them. So my system would really only be enforced on adults…who shouldn’t need more than one warning.
The way Kansas works now, you get two misdemeanor convictions and then your third misdemeanor theft is a felony if the amount is over $50. So multiple thefts still get you in deeper trouble. They just added the dollar amount this past year. Guess they got tired of getting felony theft cases for shoplifting cases that were pretty minor.
Would this not turn into the ultimate discretion of the local law enforcement? If local law enforcement WANTS to get a conviction for theft, they’re not required to offer a lower deal, right?
Which I’m 100% on board with. But cutting off fingers for misdemeanors seems a pretty big leap from what Kansas is doing. That seems like it skipped apples and oranges and went straight to apples and Volkswagen.
I guess I’m struggling with misdemeanor = lost finger. What’re we doing for felonys? Take the hand?
If you’re that worried about the misdemeanors then I supposed I’d be willing to let misdemeanors be the same as they are now. So you’d get two convictions and then your next theft would be a felony.
This goes to the prosecutor’s officer. I work for the City so our misdemeanor cases go through Municipal Court. Felonies go over to District Court. Basically if there’s any chance the prosecutor could lose in court then they don’t even try and just dismiss the case.
I found out last week that one of my cases got dropped. The call it LOP–lack of prosecution at the assistant DA’s discretion. I stopped a car, smelled marijuana, arrested the driver for a warrant and his passenger for lying about who he was. The odor of weed was enough to pull them out and search the car but I don’t like unsecured people while I’m searching a car. The passenger had warrants as well once we ID’d him. I searched the car and found a backpack containing a Glock pistol with a fully loaded 30 round magazine and a mason jar full of weed. The driver was 18 and passenger 17. Both were wearing basketball shorts, had no wallet or ID, and had about $200 in cash.
I took their money as drug proceeds, ran a criminal record check and found that both were convicted felons (one for aggravated battery and one for rape). The passenger is a documented gang member and my stop led to us flagging the driver as a documented gang member. Both were booked for their warrants, possession with intent to sell, and felon in possession of a firearm.
Lab results didn’t get any prints and our department only gets so many DNA requests per year and they like to save them for the bigger cases. The ADA LOP’d my case. Two documented violent gang members with drugs, money, and a gun and they won’t even try to get a conviction. Just dropped the case and let them go.
The irony is that we recently developed a violent gang task force to focus on our increase in gang shootings… I gave them a case to get one, if not two, gang members off the street for a federal gun charge and they let it go.
There’s your discretion.
That discretion is what terrifies me when thinking about punishing crimes by removing a finger. The thought of very very fallible humans making judgement calls about whether or not someone is going to lose a finger for the rest of their life for stealing something worth more than $50 doesn’t quite jive with me.
That being said, I understand you’re a PO so our views of the world are different as you’ve undoubtedly seen some crazy shit to warrant that viewpoint. I’d bet a decent number of us would arrive at your conclusion with enough time in your shoes.
I’m still trying to figure out how a prosecutor can decide not to do their job (uphold the law) and it’s perfectly OK but if I were to ignore my duties in a similar manner then I’d lose my job and quite possibly find myself in jail. Talk about a double standard.
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Agreed. 100%. Personally I’m on the side that the judicial branch should have very very little discretion when choosing to not prosecute/sentence accordingly with the public standard.
This kid looks like he has palumboism
Not sure what to think about that. Upon further investigation it passes muster as manslaughter. She failed to act, she should have told someone bare minimum.
“Criminally negligent manslaughter occurs where there is an omission to act when there is a duty to do so, or a failure to perform a duty owed, which leads to a death. The existence of the duty is essential because the law does not impose criminal liability for a failure to act unless a specific duty is owed to the victim. It is most common in the case of professionals who are grossly negligent in the course of their employment. An example is where a doctor fails to notice a patient’s oxygen supply has disconnected and the patient dies (R v Adomako).[7] Another example could be leaving a child locked in a car on a hot day.”
An internet girlfriend has a duty to act, in the same way a medical care professional or parent does? Maybe that’s correct. I hope we can put plenty of people in prison for 20 years because they failed to stop an idiot from being an idiot.