….so? How many killers before him have written a manifesto? Are all these school shooters, attacking actual public schools, being charged with terrorism? They’re actually striking out at “the system.” How many white supremacists mass shootings have written manifestos and not been charged with terrorism?
Are all these school shooters, attacking actual public schools, being charged with terrorism?
There’s little need to up-charge school shooters. Many of them are killed on sight. Those that are captured (Dylan Roof, for instance) get life without parole or the death sentence.
But in NYC, a single murder without a terrorist motive only gets you to 2nd Degree Murder. That means you’ll be out in 15 years. The “terrorism” addendum is necessary for life without parole sentencing.
There is no objective measure of criminal conduct. It’s all malleable. Prosecutors and judges and juries ultimately make these decisions case-by-case. And the results can be heavily weighted by wealthy, socially influential private interests who want to see an example made of a particularly offensive or terrifying individual.
“The Law” is a complex often contradictory abstract rubric that has to be applied to individual circumstances based on incomplete information by imperfect people. That’s the whole reason we have both a prosecutor and defense, plus an (ostensibly) impartial judge to adjudicate procedure and a jury to determine guilt/innocence and sentence.
If you could just put data into a computer and have it spit out perfect verdicts, the entire judicial system would be unnecessary.
….so? How many killers before him have written a manifesto? Are all these school shooters, attacking actual public schools, being charged with terrorism? They’re actually striking out at “the system.” How many white supremacists mass shootings have written manifestos and not been charged with terrorism?
It happens occasionally:
https://apnews.com/article/shootings-michigan-4e1a14622ed8c5a6bcc7e8da88e3c33d
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/10/24/us/ethan-crumbley-plea-oxford-michigan-shooting-monday/index.html
There’s little need to up-charge school shooters. Many of them are killed on sight. Those that are captured (Dylan Roof, for instance) get life without parole or the death sentence.
But in NYC, a single murder without a terrorist motive only gets you to 2nd Degree Murder. That means you’ll be out in 15 years. The “terrorism” addendum is necessary for life without parole sentencing.
Yes, but the charges should fit the crime not be selected to ensure the desired outcome
There is no objective measure of criminal conduct. It’s all malleable. Prosecutors and judges and juries ultimately make these decisions case-by-case. And the results can be heavily weighted by wealthy, socially influential private interests who want to see an example made of a particularly offensive or terrifying individual.
I mean that’s what the law is supposed to do, maybe it doesn’t work like that in the US.
“The Law” is a complex often contradictory abstract rubric that has to be applied to individual circumstances based on incomplete information by imperfect people. That’s the whole reason we have both a prosecutor and defense, plus an (ostensibly) impartial judge to adjudicate procedure and a jury to determine guilt/innocence and sentence.
If you could just put data into a computer and have it spit out perfect verdicts, the entire judicial system would be unnecessary.