Fine he was 12-13 at the time of his crimes, who cares. As others have pointed out, he was old enough to break into homes and steal things. ITA that it's bullshit to say he"accidently" killed that dog. The dog's dead because he broke into a home to steal and the dog reacted as normal and Joe killed the dog so that he could continue stealing. Again, as others have pointed out, what if it was a person in the home at the time, or a kid? That's why burglary is a terrible crime, it's not juvenile hijinks or nonsense that one is peer-pressured into, because there's always the risk that some innocent is going to walk in on the scumbags and then things can turn really ugly real fast.

And finally, we don't live in some tiny village and every member of our society has at the least potential for contributing to the greater good - there's 300 million in the US alone and however many billions worldwide - the kid's a scumbag and like all scumbags, we really don't need to save them or teach them the errors of their ways and pray that with extensive rehabilitation and education they can become meaningful members of society.

The vast majority of us on this dumb planet get by without resorting to burglary and crime, even in the poorest shittiest parts of the globe - so I really don't care about Joe Sullivan or his ilk at all.

The only value Joe Sullivan has is that he's a living example of how not to be - so we can study him for a little bit to see why he's the way he is and try to make adjsutments where needed so we don't spawn anymore like him - but I'm pretty sure most teachers,cops,observant adults already know why Sullivan is fucked up, so he doesn't even have anything new to teach us.

Dude, you're a fucking Nazi. No shit. And Joe Sullivan has nothing to do with it.

The only way that the rule of law works in a society is if it is applied to everyone equally.

Apparently, it as not applied equally to this kid. Sorry but justice served inequally is not justice at all.

Apparently, it as not applied equally to this kid. Sorry but justice served inequally is not justice at all.

How do you figure? Are there a lot of people who robbed and raped senior citizens and got off with a slap on the wrist?

Rammy:

I know nothing about you other than what you have written here, but let's pretend you have a 12 year old son. He "falls in with a bad crowd," which happens, even to kids of the "best" parents. He is not, let's pretend, the smartest kid in the world, but, as a decent guy, you have done your best to protect him and teach him and look after him.

But one day, he foolishly goes along to a burglary with some older boys. Yep - it's wrong, and he can expect punishment. But are you seriously telling me that you would be perfectly content to sit quietly and just say "I don't care about rammy_junior" if they frame him for a rape along with the burglary charge, and lock him up forever?

If that's the case, I hope to God you never have kids.

lets say your grandmother was the victim of a brutal rape and robbery and the guys who did it get off or short sentences. You know its one of the three but the state can't prove exactly which one so they get off. MMMMM thats good justice.

The only thing worse than a criminal set free is an innocent wrongly punished.

"lets say your grandmother was the victim of a brutal rape"

The reason the state punishes and not the victims is that it's justice instead of vengeance. I'm not saying I wouldn't want the person dead, I'm saying it shouldn't be up to me to decide.

And Joe Sullivan has nothing to do with it.

There is no proof he didn't.

Really, a Nazi? There's a brutally raped 72yo woman and 3 kids who almost certainly did it, but I'm the bad guy?

Let's stop pretending that this is some sweet, innocent kid getting locked up here. Let's stop pretending that Joe Sullivan, if not locked up, would've gone on to see the errors of his ways and go on to cure cancer or lead a manned expedition to Mars.

Why should I care for a kid like this, when 98% of every fucking kid on the planet would never do the vile shit he did? And for those of you who did do vile shit when you were kids and got away with it, well good on you, but if your ass got locked up at the time, I wouldn't have shed a tear.

A jury of 12 thought the kid was guilty. What's the argument, a wilier, more savvy defense attorney would've gotten the kid off with time served and a slap on the wrist - is that justice?

If you think that as a society we should have a pool of extremely talented and proven defense attorneys on the public payroll who solely defend kids and adults charged w/ heinous crimes - that's a matter for further discussion - but let's not be naive and think that just because we get our criminals a better calss of attorney that we've somehow served justice.

You miss the point, which makes me believe that you are stupid or disingenuous. It is not that the defense would have gotten him off. He was going down for the burglary. It was the defense would have cast enough doubt (which there was) that he was not the rapist. But you don't care that he went down for that crime. It gets one less scumbag off of the street. Too bad you are not smart enough to understand that it likely allowed the actual RAPIST to get out alot earlier.

Skedaddle -

I don't think anyone in my family - me included - would want to have a burglar arbitrarily chosen and jailed forever as a "whipping boy" just because the actual criminal couldn't be found.

As you note... "the state can't prove exactly who did it..." Hardly a good basis for a life sentence....

I don't think anyone in my family - me included - would want to have a burglar arbitrarily chosen and jailed forever as a "whipping boy" just because the actual criminal couldn't be found.

They found the burglars. The only question is which one was the rapist. The evidence showed it was Sullivan. Sorry.

fecisti -

I don't think you and I can possibly have read the same article.

I read this article. Which one did you read?

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