1) Play Dumb
DeWitt Stith raped a 12-year-old boy in January.
Stith admitted the crime.
Stith is now a free man.
Bernard Eaton admitted that he strangled Reginald Lovette to death because Lovette was snoring too loudly. Eaton is also a free man.
Other than their freedom, Eaton and Stith have much in common – both are mentally handicapped men who were living in group homes in the District of Columbia when they committed their crimes.
DC law does not allow for the incarceration – even the forced hospitalization – of the mentally handicapped, no matter how heinous the crime. Being classified as mentally handicapped, rightly or wrongly, is, in the nation’s capitol, a license to rape or kill. (And you thought only rich, famous athletes like OJ could afford that kind of license.)
Eaton is now living with his mother. Stith is living in another group home. When told of his release, the mother of the 12 year- old boy he raped “struggled to understand how Stith could go free.”
2) Don’t Tell Daddy
16 year-old David Allen Moore killed two men, and is now serving two life sentences. Like Stith and Eaton, Moore may soon go free. But for quite a different reason: While Moore is not mentally handicapped, he was a juvenile at the time he murdered his victims.
The Virginia Supreme Court has just ruled that any conviction of a juvenile is invalid unless both of the juvenile’s parents were notified when the teenager was prosecuted. We assume this is so that both parents, who have done such a fine job of raising their children, can assist Junior in beating the rap.
In Moore’s case, his mother was notified, but his father was not. No great shocker there, as Moore’s father had left his son and wife when Moore was 4 years old. And where was the man who was going to provide such crucial advice to his loving son? In prison.
Virginia Assistant Attorney General Michael T. Judge believes that the ruling “could invalidate thousands of felony convictions.” Arlington County Commonwealth’s Attorney Richard E. Trodden: “It is truly one of those situations where form has been elevated over substance.”
3) Blame Society
Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold won’t be released, but only because they turned their weapons on themselves after killing 13 of their classmates and wounding 21 others. Much like cockroaches after dark, the inevitable apologists have emerged and are blaming Columbine High’s culture, especially preferential treatment of athletes, for the slaughter.
The theory goes something like this: Harris and Klebold were driven to their rampage by “feelings of powerlessness” and a desire to revenge inequity. Some of the gross injustices that supposedly spurred Harris and Klebold to mass murder were:
- The state wrestling champion was allowed to park his car all day in a 15 minute parking spot.
- A football player got away with teasing a girl about her breasts. (An offense that would, of course, be punished by summary execution in an office environment.)
- Sports pages in the school yearbook were in color; pages about the debating team and other clubs were in black and white.
Obviously the only way to remedy such atrocities was by killing as many of their fellow students as possible. If Harris and Klebold were still alive, their apologists would undoubtedly be mounting a defense on the grounds that the two killers were driven to despair by their peers.
Interested in getting away with murder? No problem – just take a lesson from the stories above. If you’re young or mentally incapacitated, the path is clear. If you’re not so young, and still hanging onto the sunny side of mental competency, just tell ‘em about the time the bully pushed you down on the playground and then do as you please.
Typical…
Time: 6/13/99 (15:56:43)
This one is one good, I gave it a name: the Lenore Walker defense. The problem is that it only works for females. If you want to kill your husband, or significant other, just spread stories about how afraid you are. Tell you girl friend your husband beat you. Tell you co-workers that you are scared. Call 911 long enough for the call to be traced and then hang up. Then after sowing enough seed, blow you husbands brains out while he is sleeping, and claim that you were too scared to leave.
David R. Lentz
Gates, New York
Become the leader of NATO. NATO was chartered as a defense alliance to protect Western Europe from Joseph Stalin’s USSR. It is out of bounds for the NATO members to violate the sovereignty of another nation state. Why are the PRC and Russia being allowed to continue their abuses of human rights without any outcry or any action taken? Why didn’t NATO intervene in Russia’s war in Chechnya, or against China after the massacre of dissidents in Tiananmen Square? Or take action against the PRC’s genocide in Tibet? Or intervene against China’s persecution of Christians? Should NATO invade other central or eastern European nations due to the treatment of “Gypsies?” There has been a long-standing conflict in Northern Ireland. Why doesn’t NATO bomb the Protestant militias in Londonderry “back to the stone-age?” I’m sure there are some old fascists still living out their “golden years” near Madrid, just denounce them as “war criminals” and go arrest them too! As for me, NATO should be disbanded, at least for the sake of the “children.” Indict Tony Blair and Bill Clinton as they act like war criminals to me.
Other ways to kill would include becoming head of state. Janet Reno and Bill Clinton can roast children in Texas because their parents were members of a religious organization that had been demonized by Clinton’s sycophant press. We had to kill the Branch Dividian children be cause they were [allegedly being] abused.
I say fry the retards if they are capable of such atrocities against their fellow people without showing remorse or an understanding of right and wrong because if they did it once then whats is to stop them from doing it again
Isn’t it interesting that our esteemed congress in its combined wisdom has decreed that guns are the sole reason for the recent school tragedy. Now the lawyers have a new scapegoat and are suing the gun manufacturers. That is really going to solve a lot of problems, isn’t it? I hope no one gets bludgeoned with a bible.
Creativity. It’s used in a variety of ways … to plan and execute murder, to then escape the consequences of it, to devise all sorts of ways to avoid accepting responsibility for one’s actions. What a shame we don’t put all that mental energy toward improving ourselves and our little homesteaded acre of the world instead of looking for escape hatches.
Are you kidding me that the men who responded to this outrage
decided not to focus on those written in the article, but instead
focused on blaming women for defending themselves. Have any
of you ever been an abusive relationship? i think not! What if it
was your sister, or your mother that was being abused-but was too
scared to leave. Think about that one. Would you be making those
statements then? Keep that in mind next time.
I’d like to know why so many people waste their time coming up with excuses for why people break the laws instead of doing what a caring society should do….find ways to stop those who break the laws. 9 times out of 10 you will hear that if the criminals had had a nurturing home or a chance at rehabilitation while they were young, they could turn out to be productive members of society. Instead of addressing that issue people choose to spend their time post haste trying to figure out the “why’s” and giving excuses which are meant to literally “excuse” the often unforgiveable behavior. If they care so much, why don’t they begin programs to intervene at an early stage before the violence starts.
And…more importantly..a criminal should be convicted on the basis of whether or not they know right from wrong…and chose wrong… being mentally retarded does not necessarily mean you cannot tell the difference between right and wrong…but hey…why take that into consideration…let’s just forgive and forget based on the fact that society has put so many negative stigmas on the mentally retarded, that they must deserve a second chance. Now I’m not saying that just because you are disabled that means that you should not receive justified special treatment…I just don’t think it should be a carte blanche to murder…but hey…I guess I could be wrong..since that’s what seems to be happening.
I’m outraged at the fact that people are making excusses for their own doings. When I was a child and I did things wrong I got my ass tore up. I needed that to teach me that you can’t just do what you want. There are rules and consiquinces to everything you do. Today, Society has said that you can’t discipline your child because it might hurt their self esteem or their feelings. Look what it’s done to our kids today. They are shooting people in school because they know that nothing is going to happen to them. Society needs to realize that discipline is a form of love and teaching kids what a concience is. With no discipline comes betrayal. I’m not advicating beating children. I’m advicating Discipline. Conciquences for doing Wrong. I have two straight A children, 9 & 11. Both say Yes Sir, Yes Maam, and are taught manners. But when they mess up, it’s restriction, Butt paddling, or some other type of discipline. I don’t ask twice and I have the best relationship with my kids than anyone you’ll ever know. I come from a Baptist Preachers’ home and straight to the Marine Corps. My kids get anything they want as long as they obey, tell the truth and do their best in school. “Spare the rod and spoil the child”, That’s the problem with our Society Today. Oh, and one last thing. Guns don’t kill people, undisciplined children and adults, kill people.
I’m Outraged!!!
One method that I’ve seen that works is to have your family and friends to fill the court room. A lot of times the victim doesn’t have near the number of supporters that the offender has and if election time is coming up soon for the Judge he will want to please the larger number of voters. I’ve witnessed this concerning a child molester who got the lightest sentence possible under his conviction. The Judge was apologizing to the perpatrator’s family for having to give any kind of sentence. I’m so glad the Judge was bound to some kind of sentence. I’m glad the jury saw through the scum’s fan club.
I believe that you forgot one other detail, among the “athletes” at that high school in Colorado, who were respected and allowed to swat the geeks, were any number of criminals who were given special privileges because of their athletic ability. Students charged with burglery, assault, rape, etc., all were highly respected and offered special privileges, not for academic ability, but because they were jocks.
Thank god we have wise folks in these high school and college adminstrative positions who can offer major privileges to athletes, ignoring their academic standing, and attempting to hide and downplay criminal acts.
When the self-righteous attack citizens who question the way the school was run, maybe we ought to question the cult of the criminal athlete; or is that something special. An athlete torturing a young girl, in class, by twisting her nipples until she cries out, and the teacher, the boys coach, allows it to continue. Can’t blame the boy, after all, he is an athlete and must have a free ride though school. When he gets to college, he can commit robbery and rape, and be absolved because he is one of the athletes who fills the stadium with 40 – 50 year old wanna-be’s and never were’s.
Can’t blame the easy access of the kids to all kinds of weapons; nah, every one needs the same armaments as the Serbians.
Can’t blame the parents who were so busy chasing the almighty buck that they didn’t have time for their kids.
Can’t blame the school climate of the jocks smacking around other kids, attacking kids, committing criminal acts; oh no, can’t blame the athletes.
Keep hunting for someone to blame. These kids didn’t end up as mindless, murdering maniacs all by themselves.
dang, missed it the first time, but the number of folks out there who worship guns, smacking their kids around (discipline they call it), and good righteous Baptist prayer in school. Gotta have that Baptist prayer in the school, it is the only choice for the folks.
Haven’t heard from the whiners about the dirty movies and violence on TV – you know, those folks who whine about censoring things they don’t like, that scare them, that they can’t understand; but then hide behind inventive readings of the fourth amendment to keep their beloved guns.
The funny thing about this is that our two little murdering maniacs in Colorado were very well behaved and said “yes, sir, yes ma’am”, so our Baptist preacher’s son would have been proud to have them in his home. They were, on the service, nice little automatons, but …. something deeper, than a little parental violence couldn’t cure.
Thanks to the gun worshippers, they had ready access to the means to wipe out a bunch of fairly innocent kids.
Just as Bob Barr’s first comment upon hearing about the tragedy was one of fear for his precious guns, the gun worshippers have cried out on this forum for protection for their murderous toys.
Become a Democrat — or if you already are one, you have already gotten away with murder one way or another. Works every time – just ask Bill Klinton
Just because a flaw in society
cannot be blamed for murder
does not mean that it is not
a problem. The Outrage’s
examples are horrendously
understated, making a mockery
of the problems at Columbine
and countless other suburban
schools. Since ‘geeks’ cannot
show any definitive biological
difference between them and
their oppressors, they cannot
vocalize their abuse as can
blacks or homosexuals — their
voices are not heard in the
community or the school. Their
complaints are scoffed at by school
officials, government officials,
and to my great disappointment,
the Outrage.
You want to know what really outrages me?
The response of governments and especially school
officials to this. They have
banned trench coats, FORCED teenagers
who have admitted to playing
violent video games into counseling (I kid you not,
search the archives of http://slashdot.org if you want
tenstimony), and simply made
the oppressed minority of geeks
MORE alienated, MORE abused, and, time will
tell, MORE likely to kill.
But does that mean that the abuse
of E&D in any way justified their slaughter?
Of course not. That’s why, out of the millions
of kids abused every day in ways tolerated nowhere
else, only a few decide to commit mass murder.
Even that small amount is tragic — but so is the fact that,
while lying awake at night, thousands of others WANT TO.
Oh, BTW, if they hadn’t had guns, all they would have had was pipe bombs attached to propane tanks. PHEW!!
You forgot the most notable method of getting away with murder. There is a man who has murdered thousands of people and is free from all recourse of law. His method? He got elected as president. Then he can murder anyone who gets in the way of his political ambitions, and bomb the ears off of anyone he pleases.
We don’t know if the defense will work yet, but in Phoenix, Arizona a man is currently on trial for killing his wife while he was “sleepwalking”. He managed to stab her 44 times, drown her in the pool, and hide the evidence all while asleep. Yeah, right!
Sad, but true…
They say you are what you eat…and they say Albert Fentress is nuts.
20 years ago, Fentress lured a 17-year-old boy to his house, got him drunk and killed him. After that he boiled and ate parts of his victim’s body. All that without so much as a nice Chianti to wash it down.
Al’s been in the booby hatch for the past 20 years…but over the past year or so his lawyers have been working to get him freed. A couple months ago, a jury on Long Island actually bought their line of nonsense. They found that Fentress was still insane…AND also found that he should be released from the hospital.
Fortunately for us New Yorkers, the presiding judge, in a lucid moment that’s all too rare for our state, threw out the jury’s decision and returned Fentress to the mental hospital.
The advice? Besides the greater New York City area, you should commit your crime in either California, Massachusetts, or Washington DC.
With the right lawyer, you’ll be guaranteed a healthy supply of morons on the jury, whose sole interest will be to get things wrapped up in time to go home and watch Ricki Lake.
A major flaw in our society is the way our legal system is configured. As we all know, it benefits those that work within the system and NOT those it is intended to serve. Lawyers make millions confusing issues, distorting facts, influencing others to argue (in court, of course), and dragging these arguements out for as long as possible – remember, they get paid for BILLABLE HOURS.
A lot of valuable court time (and $$) is spent customizing a jury so as to tip the scale of an outcome in a particular direction. This is hardly a jury by “peers.” I am of the opinion that a jury should be a purely random sampling of society. Institute a completely random drawing for a jury with a couple of alternates (in case of extreme hardship or insanity) and that’s it – that’s the jury. No wasted time in jury selection (which would free up more valuable court time for many other backlogged disputes), quicken the trial process for a real “speedy” trial, and put an end to lopsiding a jury in someone’s favor. Jury duty would be manditory, as part of an American’s civic duty.
I really beleive that an impartial trial should be jurred by a truly “impartial” peer group. This would sure help matters!!
Also, limit the number of appeals to one!!!
Also, as far as guns are concerned, I am a gun owner and have been for years. But with as much gun violence that has occured lately, I am rethinking my views on the legality of HANDGUNS. Why are these necessary to a free society? Can anyone lend any reasonable credence to the argument that handguns are in anyway beneficial? I beleive in a right to bear arms. Are rifles not enough (at least something that is difficult to conceal). And if we cannot limit the number guns, can we not limit the ammunition? I see nothing in the Constitution about ammo. The true gun enthusiasts can make their own ammo if they are that serious about it and the difficultuy in getting ammo might significantly decrease the number of violent crimes involving guns. And please, spare me the black market crap about ammo. Yes, I know, it create a whole new underground market for it, but it still deter those who for now, have it far too easy to get it.
Why don’t you just blame the guns, blame freedom, and blame society. Then those of us with any hope maintaining our rights can just give up and live under complete Governmental control. What people don’t seem to understand is that there is always a bad side to freedom. Freedom can and will always be abused. But, to take freedom away from all, because some must abuse it, is to strip us of our dignity and our future. To live in a world where no one can shoot anyone is not Heaven, it’s a prison.
How aobut this, blow a cop away in Philly, get convicted of the crime, and sentenced to take the big sleep, (rightfully so) and then become a celebrity in this sureal world. Change your name from Wesley cook, to Mumia Abu-Jamal, and start screaming that you were railroaded by racist courts, and didn’t have effective leagal council. (ignore the fact that you were so disruptive in the court that you were dragged out on several occasions, that the person that you wanted to represent you couldn’t (because he wasn’t a lawyer, and therefore couldn’t act as council by law), and that when a lawyer was appointed to you, you belittled the attourney to the point that he asked to be removed as council) Scream the lie long enough untill it becomes the truth, and get the socialist left in Hollywood attracted to your plight like a fly to stink. Get invited to be a commencement speaker at a state funded college commencement (Yes, this actually happened a week ago at The Evergreen State College in the Soviet of Washington) where by the way, the widow of the slain officer was denied an opportunity to speak also, (God forbid that we allow a viewpoint that might chip away at the lies that the media, and the anti death penalty activists are using to promote their own political agenda)
May you burn in hell Mr. Cook.
As for E&D, It wasn’t so long ago that I roamed the hallowed halls of HS (10 years ago) and it seems that if I remember correctly, virtually every student has one problem or another. Many of us had parents who did some hunting, and therefore had easy access to guns. Know what? Nobody came in and tried to blow up the school, or massacre the students. I doubt that it even crossed any of our minds. Go ahead, let the government start taking away your rights because of a couple of twerps that were out of touch with reality, combined with parents that had NO CLUE to what their kids were doing. There were a lot of factors that lead to Columnbine. Topping the list isn’t guns, but Bad parneting and heres the word that everybody hates, “EVIL” kids. People seem to have either a fear or an inferority complex when it comes to religion. It has been written and accepted that people are composed of 3 parts, Body, Mind, and Spirit. Try to take one of these parts away, and you leave a gap where teh seeds of evil are nurtured.
well lets see where shall we begin. lets start with wages for the last twenty years the common man and woman’s wages have stagnated i make about 3 thousand dollars more than i did some twenty years ago i fell for the be all you can be get some college money and learn a skill the only skill i learned was how too kill..so i got out went too trade school got a trade all of this for a mere 3000.$ extra a year .both parents have too work today too just survive the cost of living has gone thru the roof we have kicked god out of our schools out of our homes and country…in my day if we had a problem that problem was solved with fist if you didnt win you went back but not with a gun or bomb you just contnued the fight until you got it out of your system ..i had access too plenty of guns but taking one too school was the furtherest thing from my mind.. todays kids have no supervision at home because no one is there everyone is at work trying too pay the bills trying too buy a home that somebody claims is worth 100,000 dollars but really is only worth about 20,000… if we want too correct our mutual problems we need too kick government out of our schools out of our homes our businesses and our life and bring god back into our world .if you want too live in a gunfree zone move too europe or china or russia or any other place other than america .our first line of defense is our military which has been weakened very badly in the last 7 years our second line of defense is the well armed citizen WHICH IS being weakend by gun control freaks who have only one agenda in mind and you can bet it aint about peace and love ..if you dont want too own a gun fine that is your choice but dont force your choice on me cause when you open my front door you aint gonna like we you see no threat just a promise( SMILE)if you dontwant too own a gun there are other things you can do too shore up our defense perimeter like reloading keepin the coffe hot and fresh being nurses and doctors teachers of our children you can start demanding that our so called preachers start preaching the true word and stop trying too get rich use the money donated too help our hungry and poor not drive around in big new cars living in homes that have a false value placed upon them upwards of several hundreds of thousand dollars or even millions. let the warrior class handle the front lines you can be the support unit but dont try and take my guns and my god given right of self defense away. me having the advantage of owning a gun i would never try and take any thing from anyone by force cause it just aint right…has it ever struck anyone kinda strange that all these gun control freaks are very willing too enforce their will by guns if need be? seems like we should be taking their guns away. while in the army a question was asked of me and it went like this ….private are you willing too die for your country ? and i said yes sgt. and he asked why? before i could answer he said what you need too know and understand and take too heart is that you must at all cost make that other SOB die for his country and ideals . majority of gun owners are the most honest and friendliest people you will ever meet but on the other hand we can be the most ruthless and unforgiving people as well when messed with because the blood of our ancesters runs strong in our viens..ancesters who fought and died for the very ideal of freedom and gave all .they did their best and we can do no less we must not ever forget them..so what we need too do is start making laws that forbid gun control and laws that put in prison people who even dream about it….when all this boils down what we will have is a good ole fashion mexican standoff the real question then will be is who is gonna blink first!!!!
If you are a white male and 18 in Lubbick Texas you can kill an innocent young hispanic insurance salesman who is pushing his disabled car off the road. This 18 year old male drove straight into this insurance salesman’s car. The young hispanic was cut in two by the force of the car. The white 18 year old registered .18 two hours after the accident. Was allowed to drive himself and the two 20+ year old females who were his companions and who had bought him the alcohol home after being questioned by Police. He never stood any jail time. Approximately two weeks ago a grand jury met and said this 18 year old was not guilty of anything. Nothing was done to him or the women with him. He is now going around Lubbick bragging that he killed a hispanic. This hispanic he killed was trying to support his family, was an upstanding young man, never in any trouble. Now his family has to listen to this 18 year old bragged about how cool it was to kill a hispanic. What kind of a world are we living in. OJ can kill and get away with it and this guy to. It is not a matter of just race, it is a matter of a society with no morales or concern for others. If this story outrages you, write Gov. Bush and your local senators, congresspersons, etc. Too many innocent people are being killed and their killers allowed to get away with it.
yes; these stories are outrageous, but what is more
outrageous is that the tool, not the tool wielder gets blamed. For example, hammers are used to commit murder (and
don’t tell me they’re not) shouldn’t an age limit and a waiting period be placed on all would be carpenters.
The truth is that people
commit crimes and should not go unpunished. Guidelines must be set and enforced to show people that we of this
will not tolerate outrageous behavior. Not from our government nor our governed.
There will always be exceptions, but there must be
overwhelming proof of the exception. Such as the case of the retarded. I do not believe that a retarded person should be punished for a crime committed during the time of retardation, however; I do believe that a person proven dangerous should be put in a position where the danger is minimized.
i just read these comments and some of them made me very angrey! first – guns don’t kill people! poeople & animals kill people! second- disipline – if a kid does somthing wrong, discipline! a little spank on the bottom will not kill your child and what do you know? may prevent them from killing others! third- this “i was too scared to leave so i killed him crap!” when did 911 become a number people can’t use??? when did the women’s shelter fall down??? just leave! forth- did anyone notice that we are a stupid society??? there are alot of exceptions, but some people are so stupid that we have police officers checking seatbelts! if you are stupid enough that you won’t wear something, put there for your protection, then why are we stopping you??? why arn’t we out catching actualy criminals?? who commit actual crimes? why do we chase drug users and prostitutes, why don’t we just let them do whatever?! is it hurting you that so and so is turning tricks on the corner? but it does hurt you if somone murders your wife! so, i say:catch the people commiting ACTUAL crime!
About the Columbine tragedy….
What occurred there was horrendous. But perhaps if you are going to be outraged about the apologists for the two killers, you should be more careful to balance all the facts.
These two killers were part of a subgroup at a public school– a subgroup that was, according to testimony, ostracized, degraded, verbally harassed and even physically assaulted, with little or no intervention on the part of those who were in authority. What those boys did was horrible, evil, and inexcusable. But not, by any stretch of the imagination, unexpectable. When you raise children 8 hours a day, every day, in an environment where they are told they are nothing more than animals, given the moral and ethical guidelines of animals, and then forced, out in the hallways, to live by the law of the jungle like animals, it is no great marvel when one out of a thousand begins to act like an animal. Those two boys lived in a government funded moral vacuum, and beaten like dogs by their fellow inmates. And the wardens couldnt be bothered to stop it.
NO, the dog-eat-dog environment of the schoolyard is not any excuse for what these boys did. millions of others have suffered far worse abuse, and have not degraded to animals– and have even come out better men and women for it.
But in a world where the beautiful people are allowed to run about kicking stray dogs, it should surprise no one if eventually one of those dogs turns out to be rabid.
people with guns kill people!
so get gun control!help stop the killins of our youth
i am 13 years old i want to be alive for a
long time!if it wasnt for the bullet
nobady would fear the gun!
but people with guns kill people!
I’m a Christian and a Liberal. Don’t ban me. Thank you.
Albert Fentress should be let out. In that way he can easily be terminated without the hospital getting in the way. If he does get out, I can assure all, especially Paul’s parents, that he will be terminated. I don’t know by whom, but he will. Guaranteed. These idiotic doctors talk about how he remains calm even when being harassed by protesters. Didn’t Hannibal Lector maintain his composure ALWAYS? Let him out please!!! Give the people a chance to rectify “justice”?
I am appalled at how schools continue to perpetuate the ‘caste’ system, even with all the information that points to that as a major root cause behind school violence. These educators need a fire lit under their butts to change this archaic system that is steeped in “tradition”. It no longer works in todays society. Martin Luther King said “Violence is the language of the unheard.”