Quote Originally Posted by Ozme52 View Post
I have the misfortune of knowing a family whose child did a murder. He was hounded by a bully. His girlfriend was raped by the bully. The bully bragged he would do it again and threatened his life. He's in adult prison, no parole. No prior record of any kind. It's made me rethink my attitude against juvenile leniency. Who's to blame? His parents? The bully's parents?
The first blame must go to the bully's parents, for sure. I would never tolerate that kind of attitude or behavior in one of my kids. And they knew it, too. In no uncertain terms.

But the state, or city, or community, must also shoulder a portion of the blame. In this country, at least, bullies seem to have the run of the streets, terrorizing their victims with impunity, rarely having to pay the price, until finally one of their victims snaps and takes him out! How can any jury convict a young man (I'm assuming a teenager?) who killed a rapist, one who bragged about it and threatened to do it again? Must we wait until someone dies before we act?

And a prosecuting attorney who would pull out all the stops to convict this boy and send him to prison for LIFE? I'm guessing here, but either it was an election year and the DA needed to show he was tough on criminals, or the bully's parents were well placed in the community. Perhaps wealthy contributors? Politically connected?

I know there are many people who believe that ALL human life is precious, and that taking a life is the ultimate crime, worthy of the harshest penalties. I believe that there are some people out there who are so evil that they deserve to be killed, especially if it's one of their victims who does the killing. It's a sad, sad world when people give more thought to the welfare of the criminals and bullies than to that of the victims.