Thoughts on last night's NBC & CBS stories re Michigan child murderer

F

Futo Inu

New member
1. CBS did a balanced story that hammered the mom and dad for being crack dealers, whereas I found NBC's story to be quite (subtly) biased against guns. NBC has seemed to go beyond trying to hide its ultra-liberal biases.

2. The District Attorney in Michigan - what an idiot. His stance is "This is an innocent child, who can not possibly know the nature and consequences of his actions, and cannot possibly form an impure intent." While I agree that this is not the child's fault, I strongly believe that those are false statements based on the evidence. This kid TALKED about how he was going to kill the girl, then took careful measures to secretly get the gun to school. The correct attitude of the DA, IMO, should be "Yes, this kid had an evil intent, and yes I'd like to punish him in some way, but legally I cannot because the Supreme Court says I cannot. More importantly, I'm charging the parents with negligent care and the uncle with negligent homocide." He at least in fact has done the latter but doesn't want to emphasize it - he only seems concerned with talking about how innocent this child is.
 
Futo - punishing the kid is not useful rhetoric. There are levels of punishment useful for adults. While the kid probably planned the event - the casual link that brought him to that point cannot be consider the same causal and reasoned linkage of an adult.

The child is of an age and background that stern messages should be taken with him but with a goal to modify his behavior. Punishing in a vengeful sense is useless.

There is a lot of solid research on children's moral reasoning. You can have the usual TFL anti-PC reaction to such a statement but you would be hard pressed to demonstrate that this kid has the same level of understanding of an adult.

If you folks want to do a flame war anti-PC attack, on this go ahead. First - go read the literature on cognitive and moral development.
 
I purposely held myself in front of the television last night to get a first hand view of just how blatant the anti-gun propaganda has become. Yikes!

The Michigan States Attorney was an absolute joke. He compared the 6 year old boy who shot the little girl, to the majority of American 6 year old boys who have loving parents and proper parental upbringing. "This is a boy who still believes in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny." He further suggested that this little boy most likely "thought the gun was just a toy". Excuse me sir, but did you even pay any attention to the environment this kid was being "raised" in? The gun was stolen and was traded for crack cocaine in this boy's surrogate father's (uncle) crack house. When the police raided this house (without a search warrant) they found both drugs and at least one other stolen weapon (a shotgun).

Now, I'd further suggest that this little boy knew all about what was going on in that crack house. He knew exactly what guns were, saw his uncle display them, hide them, and maybe even use them. He knew, that a gun made his uncle powerful, and it would make him powerful too. I doubt whether this little boy knew about the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, or even believed the myth about that fat white dude in the red suit. He did know about drugs, guns, violence, abuse, and the lack of love, caring, and compassion only a parent could give.

Amazing how the other shooting last week...hmmm, what was that one about anyway?

NBC/ABC/CBS/CNN/FOX; "Let's drop that story because it contradicts our "racial hatred stance", and it won't be nearly as potent to the American people as this kid kills kid story. We've been waiting for a story like this for almost a year now."

Next thing we'll see is the slain little girl's parents standing next to Comandant Klintonov in the Rose Garden, demanding action against guns. Hmmm...maybe what we'll see next is Klintonov just by-passing the entire legislative process and signing another "executive order". Anyone taking bets?
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Paul Revere:

Next thing we'll see is the slain little girl's parents standing next to Comandant Klintonov in the Rose Garden, demanding action against guns. [/quote]

Actually, this already happened...
 
True it's not useful to blame the kid. True that he does not have anywhere near the same understanding of his actions as an adult. Obviously it's the upbringing of the child (i.e. parents). And true that that is precisely why the supreme law of the land is that a child of such age cannot be held responsible for any crimes, and this is perhaps as it should be. I was just pointing out the clear error of the statement of the DA that the kid could not have intended to kill the victim. Only marginally relevant, though. My main point was the anti-gun bias of NBC. Interesting though that the father of the boy, who is serving jail time, has hired Jeffrey Feiger, Jack Kervorkian's lawyer, who is blaming the gun manufacturers for this. Huh? I liked him when he defended Dr. Death, but now I think he needs to be rapped upside the head multiple times with the clue-bat. In in for the money I'm sure. The victim's mom's lawyer says "we'll leave no stone unturned in this investigation", which I assume means they will sue everyone under the sun they possibly can civilly for alleged negligence, including gun manufacturers, the school, the boy's parents, etc.
 
I can blame the child, I have no problem with that.The child stole the gun from home, took it to school, showed it off.The child pulled the trigger, the child killed the girl.This kid is no angel,he's stabbed a kid before at the same school.
Granted the punishment doesn't need to be life in prison, but there needs to be something.
When, as a child , I would break or steal things, I faced a punishment.Once my parents called the police , which at the time scared the crap outta me.Some times I got cracked or whatever.
The point is no one arrested my Dad when I broke the car window.The kid has a valuable opportunity to learn a lesson in responsibility that he certainly won't learn at home.
Most of my friends think the kid should just be put to sleep the way you do a dog that bites.
If you blame everyone but the child you might as well do just that. You'll just create another crappy adult with the mentality of "its not my fault , it's the system".
God help the people in that house if that was my daughter.
 
Wasn't there a similar situation some years back where an 8-year old shot and killed his brother and the court determined that he was too young to have known what he was doing. So then sent him back into the family and 4 years later he shotgunned another brother?

Sure, its possible that the kid does not know right from wrong, perhaps its time to teach him the difference. Teach him that there are consequences that result from your actions.

Or are there? I forget whether or not "cause and effect" is in style these days.

der Schueler
 
For a moment forget the shooting. The real crime is that children live in such conditions. The child was in reality an orphan. To have the chief prosecutor compare him to a normal child is to cheapen the job that normal parents do.

Can I have an AMEN on that?

------------------
Better days to be,

Ed
 
You do have from me, Ed.

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Ne Conjuge Nobiscum
"If there be treachery, let there be jehad!"
 
Boy accused of shooting classmate faces 90-day expulsion

Kayla was fatally shot by her 6-year-old classmate


March 9, 2000
Web posted at: 9:26 a.m. EST (1426 GMT)

MOUNT MORRIS TOWNSHIP, Michigan (AP) -- The 6-year-old boy accused of fatally shooting his first-grade classmate will be expelled for 90 days, a school district attorney said.

Beecher School District Superintendent Ira Rutherford has recommended that the boy be expelled for three months, in accordance with Michigan's school anti-weapons law, Donald Bonato said Wednesday.

"The districts have no recourse on expelling if you bring a weapon to school. The statute is very clear," he said.

Authorities say the boy killed 6-year-old Kayla Rolland on March 1 after he brought a stolen .32-caliber handgun into class.

The boy, his 5-year-old sister and 8-year-old brother are currently getting educational services at home. They are in the temporary custody of their maternal aunt.

A district official said the board likely would vote to expel the boy at its March 15 board meeting, though it could be delayed until April. The parents could demand a hearing to challenge the expulsion, Bonato said.

Doug Theodoroff, an attorney representing the boy, said he hoped other arrangements could be made for the boy's education.

"It's pretty clear he's going to be suspended. If he is, I want to see so this kid isn't sitting home all day watching TV," Theodoroff said.

No criminal charges are expected against the boy, who authorities have said is too young to understand what happened. A 19-year-old man living at the house where the boy had been staying has been charged with involuntary manslaughter for allegedly leaving the gun around.



[This message has been edited by Skyhawk (edited March 09, 2000).]
 
90 day expulsion...What a load of crap.
So when he stabbed a kid, did he just get detention?
"The districts have no recourse on expelling if you bring a weapon to school. The statute is very clear," he said
He didn't just bring a weapon to school, he killed someone.
I s'pose had the columbine shooters survived we'd make them stay after school and wash blackboards or something.
"For a moment forget the shooting"
Are you kidding? Sure bringing up a child in that manner is bad...but the gun didn't leap up and run to school all by itself and shoot a girl.All kids that are raised in an inner city don't grow to be 6 year old murderers.
Don't get bogged down in disecting this to death.there's always a cause and effect...lets remember what the effect IS.A potentially good family was destroyed, a young life was stolen.
 
I'm with Paul Revere. I think kids nowadays know what the heck is going on. This kid knew what he was doing but the media and adults will say that he didn't to take away lack of responsibility and consequences.

That way, when he's an adult, he can have the same carefree attitude and use the same pitiful excuses that he got to use when he was "kid". He's seen it work for people in his household, he knows it will work for him. Heck, I wonder how long it will be before he's bragging about it.

Furthermore, by denying responsibility for one's own actions, it makes it much easier to blame inanimate object like guns. I'm sure in this case, it was the gun's fault and it never would have happened had guns not been on the face of the earth. Yeah whatever, but the kid stabbed someone before. Who is to say that this kid wouldn't have stabbed this girl? My guess is that he would have because he had it in his heart and mind to hurt another human being. But then, it would have been the knife's fault right?

As far as what to do with him, I don't know. I don't think any sort of behavior modification is going to work. How many hardened criminals that go to therapy or whatnot get cured? I'm sorry but this may have been a kid but he had a very adult nature of knowing what he was doing.

It's one thing if a kid sees someone shoot someone on tv with a gun and then imitate it. It's another thing if a kid has premeditatively stabbed someone and then premeditatively takes a gun to school and shoots someone. True, parental upbringing, or lack thereof, is at fault, but personal responsibility and accountability is also at fault regardless of age.

Plus, I'll add that it's not only a crime that kids live in such a society, but US people in general who live in a decrepid society where criminals are adored and law-abiding citizens are denied the right to protect themselves.
 
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