To read the tribute to SFC Marcus Muralles, please click here
Tuesday, August 31, 2004
Cruel and Unusual Punishment
Drudge reports: In Espanola, NM, a third grader was arrested and put in jail. His crime? Hitting another student with a basketball, getting upset, and not returning to class.
Hmmm... he gets sent to the office, and he wants to go home. So they call the cops, handcuff him, and put him in the adult lock-up.
Granted, at this point, we only have the mother's account of what happened. But I only need to read one line to know where I fall on this story:
We wonder why our kids have so many problems. Don't get me started. We might be here all day.
Hmmm... he gets sent to the office, and he wants to go home. So they call the cops, handcuff him, and put him in the adult lock-up.
Granted, at this point, we only have the mother's account of what happened. But I only need to read one line to know where I fall on this story:
It's illegal to keep a juvenile at an adult facility.End of story. I'm very much NOT a proponent of suing everyone in sight. Unless there's a whole lot we don't know, I'm willing to bend in this occasion. If the school couldn't control the boy, call the parents and SEND HIM HOME. He's a third-grader, not a high school thug with a bad attitude. The school responded incorrectly. The police broke the law. A child, who broke the rules, should have been appropriately punished. (If he just got into a playground skirmish, then no recess for a couple of days along with writing his times tables (0x0 through 12x12) a dozen or so times during those recesses would have been just fine with me. If he threw the basketball in self defense, then he should get a pat on the back.) Instead, he was treated like a common criminal.
We wonder why our kids have so many problems. Don't get me started. We might be here all day.
