Friday, April 07, 2006

Thought Police at Work

Look, I know people are frightened out of their wits by the notion of terrorism, and teenage killing sprees, but at what point did it become okay to criminalize planning? Hell, an author may have ellaborate and workable assaniation/terrorism plans that he/she will use for a novel. Maybe we should arrest all fiction writers.

So, in this case, another group of teenagers was planning a massacre at their high school. My guess is that we would be hard pressed to find a high school in this country where there are not teenagers with similar thoughts. High school is a bitch, whether you are a popular student or not. When I was in high school I knew students who talked about killing others. One in particular was probably the most frightening as he did have a couple assault rifles at his house, but another was a good friend of mine, he had a few guns at his place (a .22 handgun and a bolt action, small guage rifle). Could either of them, or any of the others who had similar thoughts/made similar jokes, have snapped? Sure, maybe. Did they? No...at least not while in high school. I haven't exactly kept up and anything is possible, but I seriously doubt that they have since, either.

There are always people who would rather certain others were not around, many may joke/talk/fantasize about them dying or being killed in some gruesome manner. No matter what a person thinks about, they are not criminals until they act. They may need help. They may need to be removed from the environment. They should not be put in jail.

These students (aged 14 to 16) are being charged under an anti-terrorism law, and could be tried as adults. If convicted as adults they would receive a minimum 30 year sentance with no parole. Minimum. Why would this country rather hurt than help?

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