Jail time for Joke

[Koldo]

It appears this situation has gone away too far. Too. Far.

 

[dust1n]

Here ya go.

Petition · Release My Son Justin Carter - Being Prosecuted For A Facebook Comment · Change.org

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Looks like an anonymous donor paid the necessarily 10% of bail to get him of jail, but still faces felony and terrorism charges.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

The article says -

"Authorities said someone reported the comment -- which came about two months after the mass killings at Sandy Hook Elementary School -- leading to Carter's arrest February 21 on a felony charge of making terroristic threats. In Texas, that carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison."

The article also says:
Justin Carter, 19, had spent five months in prison for posting, during an argument about a video game, what he said was a sarcastic comment about how he was going to "shoot up a kindergarten."

 

[Midnight Rain]

Just a short question. Since the article linked did not specify what transpired when authorities questioned the person we do not know the full story. Now, if the person did go and "shoot up a kindergarten" and authorities had been notified about the post and did nothing about it, what do you think the response would have been.

He hasn't even gone to court yet. He had bail set higher than those actually accused of murder. This seems over the top to me and from what I have read of the story it is an obvious joke. I have heard far worse in the last month playing Call of Duty.

Even if someone said they were going to do something like that "seriously" (which in this case it was not) and they were over the age of 18 then I would still be opposed to keeping him in jail for 5 months and still pending trail without actually having done anything. I think they should have sent him to mandatory court counseling and done some kind of investigation. Perhaps made sure there were no guns available to him till after he is found innocent. But simply throwing a kid into the slammer for 5 months on unreasonable bail for a joke over the internet during a game?

 

[Wirey]

I don't think they're punishing the kid so much as they're setting th example. Make the brain dead mouth breathing drool bags shut up and it's easier to find the real threats. And to be fair, the kid broke a pretty serious law. Being stupid and doing moronic things has historically come with consequences.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I don't think they're punishing the kid so much as they're setting th example. Make the brain dead mouth breathing drool bags shut up and it's easier to find the real threats. And to be fair, the kid broke a pretty serious law. Being stupid and doing moronic things has historically come with consequences.

I don't see where any law was broken. He has having an argument over a video game. It's like back just after 9/11 some guy was arrested over a "bomb threat" when what had actually happened was he was talking to his friend over his cell phone about a mission in whatever Grand Theft Auto game was current at the time, and this mission included a hidden bomb. Someone over heard this conversation and called the police.

 

[Wirey]

Uttering threats is illegal. He did that. Circumstance aside, you would you be okay if we worked together and I said "Tuna for lunch again? Tha wife of mine is getting tuned up tonight!", even if otrhers said I was joking?

 

[Quintessence]

Just a short question. Since the article linked did not specify what transpired when authorities questioned the person we do not know the full story. Now, if the person did go and "shoot up a kindergarten" and authorities had been notified about the post and did nothing about it, what do you think the response would have been.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't, apparently. People just like to complain, it seems, one way or another.

 

[Monk Of Reason]

I think the kid earned5 months for being that stupid after the age of 14! Who does that in this day and age?

Five months in prison for a joke of any kind? I could never agree to it BECAUSE he is 14. He says something inappropriate and spend five months in a prison while Zimmerman walks? Bull****.

 

[Monk Of Reason]

Yup. And we have the right to lock up people who threaten children. If he's that stupid, it's not like we cost ourselves the cure for cancer while he was in.

So yeah lets lock up children who threaten children because children should be treated as adults especially in the contexts of sarcasm.

I mean don't get me wrong. If this was 40 year old man with a history of violence who hovered around schools and then went online and said in a very serious manor that he was going to "go shoot up kids' then hell yeah we should give him jail time.

However this wasn't a serious threat. It was never meant to be a serious threat. He even said "lol jk".

And I repeat HE IS 14 YEARS OLD EVEN IF THIS WAS A REAL THREAT THEN HE NEEDS HELP NOT jailtime. Great we ****ed this kid's life up for good probably. He will have a felony on his record not to mention the incredible mental scars of enduring prison as a 14 year old. ****ing scapegoat mentality.

 

[Monk Of Reason]

Uttering threats is illegal. He did that. Circumstance aside, you would you be okay if we worked together and I said "Tuna for lunch again? Tha wife of mine is getting tuned up tonight!", even if otrhers said I was joking?

Problem is this, who did he threaten? He didn't mention a school. He didn't mention a person. It was an off-handed and off color joke said over a video game that shouldn't have been said but NO ONE was specifically threatened.

So who was he threatening that was endangered? If I were to go out and say "i'm going to kill someone" can I be charged? That is just as baseless a threat as his.

 

[Wirey]

Problem is this, who did he threaten? He didn't mention a school. He didn't mention a person. It was an off-handed and off color joke said over a video game that shouldn't have been said but NO ONE was specifically threatened.

So who was he threatening that was endangered? If I were to go out and say "i'm going to kill someone" can I be charged? That is just as baseless a threat as his.

Go tell that to the police in Paris. We live in a different world now, and we all have to adapt. This is just the start.

 

[Monk Of Reason]

Go tell that to the police in Paris. We live in a different world now, and we all have to adapt. This is just the start.

I wouldn't agree. I think that if this is the new world then it needs to be fought. It needs to be fought tooth and nail. Otherwise it will get worse and people will be dragged away without rights.

Found this also.
Tyell Morton, Indiana Teen, Could Face 8 Years Behind Bars For Blow-Up Doll Senior Prank

Seems the kid put a blowup doll in the girl's bathroom at school as a prank. Does he deserve eight years in prison?

 

[esmith]

Problem is this, who did he threaten? He didn't mention a school. He didn't mention a person. It was an off-handed and off color joke said over a video game that shouldn't have been said but NO ONE was specifically threatened.

So who was he threatening that was endangered? If I were to go out and say "i'm going to kill someone" can I be charged? That is just as baseless a threat as his.

His remark was posted on Facebook. It really doesn't matter if a particular school wasn't mentioned or he was only "joking", he made a threat. Should authorities just "assume" that he was joking? He was indited and bail was set and not met therefore he must be incarcerated until the trial. He can not be let out on his own recognizance because of the nature of the indictment. I keep reading on this forum and other media sources that people want the authorities to be more pro-active when it comes to situations like this, yet when they do they are villainized for doing so. How many time have you read that person X should have been subjected to more scrutiny before they commit mass killings. Or when "bulling" is done on social media. Do you and others know what was in this teenagers mind? Could he have become so enraged over the discussion he was having that he actually did what he said he was going to do? Neither you or others who are not educated in human behavior can make that judgement and those that are educated make mistakes.
Maybe this will wake up those that say things on social media that there could be consequences to what post on social media.
What would you do if you were the authorities and someone brought to your attention that person X had posted that they were going to "do something"?

 

[Monk Of Reason]

His remark was posted on Facebook. It really doesn't matter if a particular school wasn't mentioned or he was only "joking", he made a threat. Should authorities just "assume" that he was joking? He was indited and bail was set and not met therefore he must be incarcerated until the trial. He can not be let out on his own recognizance because of the nature of the indictment. I keep reading on this forum and other media sources that people want the authorities to be more pro-active when it comes to situations like this, yet when they do they are villainized for doing so. How many time have you read that person X should have been subjected to more scrutiny before they commit mass killings. Or when "bulling" is done on social media. Do you and others know what was in this teenagers mind? Could he have become so enraged over the discussion he was having that he actually did what he said he was going to do? Neither you or others who are not educated in human behavior can make that judgement and those that are educated make mistakes.
Maybe this will wake up those that say things on social media that there could be consequences to what post on social media.
What would you do if you were the authorities and someone brought to your attention that person X had posted that they were going to "do something"?

The bail was set at higher than alleged murderers. A child had bail set at half a million dollars. And was of course incarserated. The bail was set so that he would not be able to meet it and it was done intentionally.

It was said over the video game. The earliest stories didn't mention facebook. I think that it was probably an account linked with FB but I've been following this and I can't find any screenshots or anything of it being "on facebook". Not that it matters.

But the next part that matters is that he didn't actually threaten anyone. There was no one in particular he was threatening. There was no school. Nothing.

I agree that they should have looked into it. The kid should have been put on watch, court mandated counseling and probably given community service. But lets not forget what this is. This was a kid being stupid. I remember conservatives flipping their **** when a kid was expelled because of making "bang bang" noises with his sandwich.

The trail was unfair and proportional from the start. Do you agree with that at least?

edit*

as for the last part. Honestly when I saw the "lol jk jk" I would have sent them a warning and tell them that this **** was serious but no I wouldn't have even arrested him.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

His remark was posted on Facebook. It really doesn't matter if a particular school wasn't mentioned or he was only "joking", he made a threat. Should authorities just "assume" that he was joking?

They should take context into consideration, and realize what he said was over a video game argument. We don't have the full exchange, but "over reacting" seems to be putting it lightly. If they wanted to look into it, I have no problem with that, but giving jail time over something that was taken out of context is ludicrous.

He was indited and bail was set and not met therefore he must be incarcerated until the trial.

His bail was set higher than murderers. This should definitely fall under "cruel and unusual" punishment.

 

[Frank Bunneh]

Don't forget this is the same America that has been collecting information from us on the internet from via the NSA

Well I hope they don't try to sell me something because I'm pretty picky.

 

[Monk Of Reason]

His bail was set higher than murderers. This should definitely fall under "cruel and unusual" punishment.

On this note specifically. Here is the court of Sacramento (not the location of the individual I know) that has a list of how they set their bails.

Now I have searched for the Felony Bail schedule for Cormon Distctrict of TX but it seems it doesn't exist. If someone else has found it I would like to see it.

But to pull a little bit from the example that I posted here are a few bails suggested for crimes that is less than the bail assigned to the defendant.

Falsely reporting an Emergency- $50,000
Conspiracy to commit a crime against a federal or state officers- $100,000

Gross Vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated $250,000

Assault with the intent to rape or sodomize $100,000

There is one crime that is equal in bail and a few that are above and a few that are restricted as no bail. But the one that is equal to it is as follows

Human Trafficing- Forced into labor - $500,000.

So they apparently hold what he did to the same level as slave trading.

 

[Midnight Rain]

Well I hope they don't try to sell me something because I'm pretty picky.

They can be pretty persuasive.

 

[Frank Bunneh]

They can be pretty persuasive.

I can be pretty stubborn