Big Dick McGee
If you don't know, now ya know
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local&id=6859651
We had the discussion about vigilante justice in another thread I posted, and most were against it. I respect everyone's point of view, and respectfully disagreed with those who didn't share my view that it's sometimes acceptable for a neighborhood to take justice into their own hands.
So, what about this case? Here you have a guy fleeing police, driving down a residential street at an extremely high rate of speed (and let me tell you, the streets in Philly are ridiculously narrow), he loses control and KILLS THREE CHILDREN. One of the kids was about to celebrate her first birthday. Police arrested the driver on the scene, as well as the man, his passenger, who stole the motorcyle and prompted the chase.
So, here's my best guess as to what will happen. The driver will NOT be booked on murder charges; since he didn't actually jack the motorcyle, his attorney will argue that he's merely an accomplice wrong place, wrong time. He "had no idea" that his friend would jack a bike, and panicked when the cops showed up. The gun? Not his, it was the other guys. He plead out to vehicular manslaughter, and serve 10 years. Meanwhile three families are left bereft. Come on, you KNOW it will go down this way.
So, in that case, would the parents or neighbors of the dead children have been justified if they pulled the driver from the car and beat him? What if they beat him to death? Sure, his death won't bring their kids back, but how the fuck do you live the rest of your life knowing that the scumbag who killed your kid will be out of prison before she would have turned 10?
As someone who is spiritual but does not subscribe to any organized religion, this is something I'm grappling with. I used to believe that our Criminal Justice system should be the sole arbiter of a criminal's fate. Now, I hear countless hundreds of stories about criminals with miles-long rap sheets being released and perpetrating violence in the community for the 4th or 10th or 50th time. When is enough enough? Our system is fundamentally broken right now-it just doesn't work as effectively as it used to. Isn't it our right as free citizens to effect change and protect our communities when law enforcement cannot?
This is an interesting case, as it's pretty open and shut. The guy fled police and killed 3 innocent children. There's no grey area, he's a murderer, they have him cold. In this case I think some street justice is A-Ok.
We had the discussion about vigilante justice in another thread I posted, and most were against it. I respect everyone's point of view, and respectfully disagreed with those who didn't share my view that it's sometimes acceptable for a neighborhood to take justice into their own hands.
So, what about this case? Here you have a guy fleeing police, driving down a residential street at an extremely high rate of speed (and let me tell you, the streets in Philly are ridiculously narrow), he loses control and KILLS THREE CHILDREN. One of the kids was about to celebrate her first birthday. Police arrested the driver on the scene, as well as the man, his passenger, who stole the motorcyle and prompted the chase.
So, here's my best guess as to what will happen. The driver will NOT be booked on murder charges; since he didn't actually jack the motorcyle, his attorney will argue that he's merely an accomplice wrong place, wrong time. He "had no idea" that his friend would jack a bike, and panicked when the cops showed up. The gun? Not his, it was the other guys. He plead out to vehicular manslaughter, and serve 10 years. Meanwhile three families are left bereft. Come on, you KNOW it will go down this way.
So, in that case, would the parents or neighbors of the dead children have been justified if they pulled the driver from the car and beat him? What if they beat him to death? Sure, his death won't bring their kids back, but how the fuck do you live the rest of your life knowing that the scumbag who killed your kid will be out of prison before she would have turned 10?
As someone who is spiritual but does not subscribe to any organized religion, this is something I'm grappling with. I used to believe that our Criminal Justice system should be the sole arbiter of a criminal's fate. Now, I hear countless hundreds of stories about criminals with miles-long rap sheets being released and perpetrating violence in the community for the 4th or 10th or 50th time. When is enough enough? Our system is fundamentally broken right now-it just doesn't work as effectively as it used to. Isn't it our right as free citizens to effect change and protect our communities when law enforcement cannot?
This is an interesting case, as it's pretty open and shut. The guy fled police and killed 3 innocent children. There's no grey area, he's a murderer, they have him cold. In this case I think some street justice is A-Ok.
