Before Michael ever saw the inside of juvenile lockup, caseworkers recommended he be sent home.
The 13-year-old came from a stable, two-parent home in Columbia. He watched over his three younger siblings, did chores around the house, and enjoyed playing in his youth football league.
Then, he says, he fell in with the wrong group of kids. He was with one of the boys, he says, when they stole another teen's cellphone.
It was Michael's first offense. Juvenile caseworkers thought a letter of apology and counseling made the most sense. His attorney argued that a return home would be the best outcome for everyone.
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4 comments:
There is more to this story than what has been printed. #1 , P.G. county youths , #2 parents in my opinion were not saints , #3 peer pressure could have an effect , but what happened to the others?
If the thug had finished the first 90 day stint instead of going attitudinal on them - it would have been over then too.
No sympathy for this kid from me...look it up in the dictionary...
If you can't do the time, don't do the crime.
Cost of the phone vs cost of housing, feeding and "rehabilitation" for 3 years?
A punishment fit to the crime vs a first time offender being raised for 3 years with kids probably much worse and picking up their behavior.
I was accused of stealing an expensive calculator (which I didn't do) when I was young. I unzipped a classmates backpack in the hall as a joke and at some point it must have fallen out without me noticing. I paid for the calculator because it was my fault but the way these schools are now I bet if I was a young black kid it would have gone straight to the courts.
The rabid pursuit of "justice" by people like the commenters on this page ruins lives. People can't get an apartment or a job because of a criminal record over something as stupid as a cell phone. And if society took away my means of providing for myself I'm going to get it through the handout system or kicking your door in and take the rest of your $#&+.
The real people picking your pocket are those in the criminal justice system. These people are making a fortune off you because they have you convinced that having the highest per capita prison population in the world is all that's keeping you safe. Just like they have you morons convinced that they need more money to bomb Muslims because they "hate our freedom".
There are so many laws now that all that is needed is a desire to make an arrest and they will find a way. One of these days that might catch up with you and you might be in the cell with the phone thief. When that happens will you be happy that he was "rehabilitated" from 13 to 16, or do you think it just taught him to kick your @$$ better?
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