jj wrote:
On 16 Mar 2005 07:00:18 -0800, "Maggie"
wrote:


http://www.timesunion.com/aspstories...StoryID=342295


What are we supposed to say about this article? In your opinion
what
type of sentence should the 18 year old receive? We just had an
incident in our town where a young man ran down another young man
while
recklessly speeding. One boy is dead and one boy's life is ruined
forever. They were friends. They were fooling around, it turned
tragic.
Both the parents of the victim and the parents of the boy charged
with
the crime are grieving. My son knew both of them.

In my opinion both lost their "children" forever. One buried, one
now
in jail. If he serves one year or 100 years, he has to remember the
night he killed his friend. Both so young. They were friends, they
were acting like fools, in one moment so many people suffered. This
was
not malicious intent. It was stupidity that leaves a legacy of pain
for
all involved.

What should happen to the 18 year old that would make anything right
again for anyone? What should be his punishment?
Maggie

Same punishment as for involuntary manslaughter. Why is there a
separate
category called 'vehicular manslaughter' - it's as though the car is
taking
some of the blame.

What gets me is this sentence:

"We held Mr. Paniccia accountable for his criminal conduct,"
Murphy said.snip The conviction sends a message that
drivers must obey the speed limit, he said.

Obey the speed limit? Huh? Obey the -speed limit-??

What about sending a message it's not ok to kill someone?

The time for mercy for these criminals is over. We need to start
making
examples of them.

jj

So you think the kid should get the death penalty? Did you ever hear
of the saying..."there but for the grace of God go I" or "Don't spit in
the wind my friend". Are you a parent? Did you ever know a person
whose child was killed by a teenage driver? Did you ever know a
teenager who killed someone with his car because he was 18 and acting
like an ass. Did you ever know parents who instead of seeking revenge,
they honored their lost child by helping educate, motivate, and finance
programs regarding safety. Did you ever see a parent who lost a child
try to repair the life of the "criminal".

There is a difference between these crimes and hidious crimes such as
pre meditated murder, rape, child molestation, armed robbery, cold
blooded killing with no remorse, kidnapping and torturing a victim,
walking into a convenience store and shooting 10 innocent people.

Anyone who intentionally and with thought sets out to harm any human
being should be punished. A person who kidnaps a child and rapes and
tortures him or her should die a slow death in my opinion. A slow
agonizing death.

Crime is not black and white. I don't think most 18 year olds who
speed, think its "OK TO KILL SOMEONE". Do you really think the boy in
my town or the boy in the news story actually think, or thought...it
was OK TO KILL SOMEONE?

I can't argue this, because I know some young people who have screwed
up badly and then turned their life around.

I know people who screwed up their life so badly when they were young
but because of the help they received, they are making a difference in
the lives of young offenders. The company I work for builds the
offices in Newark for past offenders changing the lives of these young
kids.

If you want to hang everyone, that is your perogotive. In the end, do
you really think that will solve the problem. Do you really think that
will put an end to these tragedies. Really, is that what you believe?
Make an example and it all ends???? Is it that simple??
Maggie