Quote Originally Posted by Thorne View Post
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.
The bully had a juvie record to boot... but the parents didn't seem to care until he was dead and now they're suing the school district... I don't know much more than that

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?
That's in part due to the girl's parents not letting her report it AND making her recant after the murder... I think they feared she'd be named an accomplice. There was a second boy... and he was coerced to testify in exchange for a mere 27 year sentence.

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?
As I understand it... he was elected on a "tough on crime" platform and is prosecuting all questionable juveniles as adults. Unfortunately it was obvious that the murder was planned...

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.
As I said, because I know the family and the kind of kid he was... I'm really conflicted about my previous no-leniency stance. It's just not a cut and dry issue for me anymore.