Justice Gone Wild

[Firestorm]

We just had an amusing thing in town: police broke up a sexting ring among high school students after a SIX MONTH investigation. Apparently, a few kids did an "I'll show you mine if you show me yours" on social media. Okay, so the internet is the most public forum that has ever existed, so these kids are stupid. But kids are stupid.

In my day, you'd get a spanking or be grounded or whatever. But they've got 20 kids in a ”diversionary program” and three more up for felonies. Those three, the entrepreneurs, sold the photos, so that's probably criminal, but puh-lease. We only have police to deal with issues that ordinary citizens can't handle on their own: terrorist attacks, active shooters, Bernie Madoff. Kids being kids? What am I paying you for?

[TUBEDUDE]

Agreed, not only are we a litigious culture of the easily insulted. The PC net tightens, and kids are charged for anything. Preparation to fill all those jail cells managed for profit by corporations.

[Firestorm]

Agreed, not only are we a litigious culture of the easily insulted. The PC net tightens, and kids are charged for anything. Preparation to fill all those jail cells managed for profit by corporations.

"Litigious culture of the easily insulted." Wow, I love that! Worthy of P.J. O'Rourke. Some ridiculous percentage of the population is incarcerated. Especially people of color. We've criminalized everything. Every year at Monticello, they have to level the ground in the cemetery because Jefferson won't stop spinning.

[deiseldave]

Couldn't agree more, nor add to the already articulate language to describe.

[Ken Moon]

One of the worst aspects of these cases is that the kids will most likely be publicly identified as sex offenders for the rest of their lives.

Unfortunately, the Hall Monitors, the Vice Principals, the Finger Waggers, the Tsk-Tsk'ers, and the Ass-Kissing Pretenders have taken over our country.

As more of a Get-Off-My-Lawner myself, I'd like to invite the PC types to stay the hell away from me, and I'll stay as far away from them as I can get

[Structo]

It's getting ridiculous.

Say you are a 18 year old man and your girlfriend is 16-17.
That makes you a criminal.

[Ken Moon]

...getting thrown in prison happens all the time when the boy is black and the girl is white.

For example:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/crime/dixon.asp

[John_P_WI]

Yes it is crazy, i went to pick up my daughter one cold morning and a do gooder didn't like the way i was parked, even though i was in the vehicle with the engine running. The prick took a pic of my vehicle and went to the cops. When i got home a cop was there waiting with a citation for 240 bucks. Fuck yeah... I'm the middle aged white guy that the courts make an example out of...

[John_P_WI]

It's getting ridiculous.

Say you are a 18 year old man and your girlfriend is 16-17.
That makes you a criminal.

I will say I reminded my daughter of that "law" when she had an older boyfriend as a deterrent.

Yeah I'm a hypocrite, I would have never done anything like that with older girls when I was in high school

[drew]

Yes it is crazy, i went to pick up my daughter one cold morning and a do gooder didn't like the way i was parked, even though i was in the vehicle with the engine running. The prick took a pic of my vehicle and went to the cops. When i got home a cop was there waiting with a citation for 240 bucks. Fuck yeah... I'm the middle aged white guy that the courts make an example out of...

.

Let me guess: you were in a handicapped spot?

[Firestorm]

Whose joke was about the cop giving a ticket to the handicapped person who parked a regular spot? Steven Wright maybe.

[stretch2011]

I agree, sexting is a bit of a joke. But when it comes down to it its child pornography and how else is the government going to handle it? The fact that they will most likely be labeled as sex offenders is freaking ridiculous.
I'm also not into the selling of the pictures.

Now I'm 22, and I had a cell phone capable or receiving pictures. And I can say that when I was 17, if some girl my age wanted to show me her naughty bits you can bet your ass I was looking at my phone like a hawk haha.

But you got to step back and look at things. If kid's would keep it private this would've never been an ordeal.

Parent's shouldn't be able to press charges on kids. They should have to whip their children for being dumb enough to get caught. Because you know when they were 17 they'd be doing the same thing.

[Leo_Gnardo]

Yes it is crazy, i went to pick up my daughter one cold morning and a do gooder didn't like the way i was parked, even though i was in the vehicle with the engine running. The prick took a pic of my vehicle and went to the cops. When i got home a cop was there waiting with a citation for 240 bucks. Fuck yeah... I'm the middle aged white guy that the courts make an example out of...

That wouldn't fly around here. Cops reeeeeely hate it when ordinary citizens try to do their job for them, even worse when photos are involved. The photographer often gets hit with an "unauthorized surveillance" charge, and the penalty for that is often far worse than the supposed crime they are photographing.

If you haven't paid that ticket yet, I'd advise you fight it in court. Just because there's a photo of your car in some spot that's no evidence you broke any law. If your "crime" was not witnessed by an actual on-duty police officer, they have no right to issue you a ticket. Challenge to officer who wrote the ticket to tell the judge the truth: Did you witness the infraction? No. End of story.

[John_P_WI]

Leo, thanks for the advice. It's not even worth elaborating on, especially since it was on private property of a business. Small town USA, full of wanna be d-bags. Went to muni court, where I learned it was nothing more than a revenue stream. Um, yeah... good start to the year.

[Leo_Gnardo]

Leo, thanks for the advice. It's not even worth elaborating on, especially since it was on private property of a business. Small town USA, full of wanna be d-bags. Went to muni court, where I learned it was nothing more than a revenue stream. Um, yeah... good start to the year.

"was on private property" = I hope that means there's no fine.

Noobie woman cop ticketed a friend of mine in a shopping center a couple years ago. All her co-workers attended the court to see the judge give noobie-cop a proper lecture... .

Other than that, yes muni court a revenue stream here too. 5000 people in the municipality, nearly 10,000 traffic cases per year, all bargained down to minor offenses via court/cop agreement so municipality could retain ALL the fine money & court expenses instead of having to share the take with the state. Police force tripled in size, now a million+ $ per year enterprise, custom painted cars, detailed every week, new mobile command center truck. Meanwhile the usual crimes continue, running stop signs & red lights, yakking on cell phones & texting while driving, not to mention dope dealers etc etc etc. What a circus.