Thursday, December 30, 2010

2011 Prediction - Too Many Very Bad Anti Bullying Laws

I fear this is going to happen. I am not for bullying of course. However now bringing this into the criminal realm I predict will bring a lot more injustice than injustice.

MCJ had an interesting link up at AND NOW…IDIOTS which I think is apt o this discussion. As you can see what we have is a "zero tolerance" approach to violence and weapons in school. Now as usual "zero tolerance" sounds goods in theory into you realize that cases like this exists everyday. Zero tolerance quickly becomes zero sense.

THIS is not an isolated incident. These things happened every day of the school year. Why? Because teachers , principals, and school boards in order not to be accused of playing favorites play the game of passing the buck. LET the District Attorney decide (which in cases like this means let the young Asst D.A.) if to prosecute. The Asst DA echoing the guys that is his boss might very well pass the buck some more. "We just prosecute the cases before us" so it is up to the Judge.

So after spending perhaps a few hours in jail, lot so time in Court, lots of time away from school 6 6months later the kid might get his day in court.

I have a feeling situations like the above and countless similar others are not what the legislatures had in mind when they passed these laws.

The situation with anti bully laws could be and I predict far worse. First it appears the people don't know what do with a kid with a "weapon" in the above case. Imagine what they are going to do with a kids statements and actions. What happens when there is not even any "incriminating text or email message as physical evidence.

I have commented on in a negative way several statutes in the past that depend too much on the DA's good graces to handle in a responsible manner. As we have seen that is not enough.

Now bullying is a problem but it strikes me as something that one is going to have a problem just legislating away. For whatever reasons kids and teenagers can be very cruel. I am not sure a law will change that. Regardless this seems like something that should handled in 99 percent of cases in a non criminal way. What we are doing here is just passing the buck and letting the courts get involved.

This will not end well.

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