Student, 17, gets 8 years in prison for phone threat (Are we safe yet?)

[elehhhhna]

June 7, 2008, 2:10PM
Student, 17, gets 8 years in prison for phone threat


Associated Press


TYLER — A 17-year-old who phoned his rival high school on a school bus and threatened to open fire on students has been sentenced to eight years in state prison.

An attorney for Terrance Taylor said Saturday he was surprised by the sentence and had recommended probation for his client, who was a junior at John Tyler High School in Tyler.

Taylor pleaded guilty Thursday to making a terroristic threat. Don Davidson, the student's attorney, said state District Judge Jack Skeen Jr. used the phrase "the times we live in" in handing down the sentence.

Police found no weapons belonging to Taylor after he made the call in January. Davidson said another student initiated the call on the bus and that his client was "gullible" in taking part.

Angela Jenkins, a spokeswoman for the Tyler school district, said that while the sentence was "severe in this circumstance," the school takes threats very seriously. She said "we now live in a time where safety is of paramount concern."

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5824727.html

[opihimoimoi]

1. That'll teach um threats are a no no...prolly has a Bully personality

[rzemanfl]

6. That sentence is ridiculous. So is your post. This "that'll teach

um" attitude is part of the reason this country sux these days.

[opihimoimoi]

9. He should get LIFE w/o parole......LIFE at Hard Labor....

[elehhhhna]

13. 'scuse me? You think I posted this b/c I approve of the sentence?

Oy.

[rzemanfl]

18. I wasn't responding to your post, but to the that'll teach um post.

There are way too many people in prison in this country.

[Deja Q]

8. Seconded. Bullies should be given stern punishments.

Stop the problems at their source.

[opihimoimoi]

10. Thats what I say.....fuck um all....LIFE at hard Labor.....

[Joanne98]

2. This zero tolerance shit is out of control. It's gonna STOP!

[barbtries]

3. that

is cruel and unusual punishment. i have to ask: what color is this kid? the sentence STINKS and i hope there will be a movement to overturn it.

edited to add: this adolescent child got almost twice as much time as the middle aged woman who murdered my daughter got! and nobody died. omigawd

[rzemanfl]

4. Some fucking lawyer the kid had. "surpised by the sentence."

what the hell is he doing pleading the kid with no godamned idea what the judge is going to do?

[barbtries]

7. excellent question

grounds for appeal, i'd wager.

[pitohui]

11. as a victim of terroristic threats i know why he was surprised, most are never charged

i haven't yet read the article but my guess is this particular kid is black, messed w. somebody influential in his town, or BOTH

make a terroristic threat against a woman around here, even if you have a gun, and you know what happens to you -- nothing -- "we'll make a note of it and if something happens to you, he knows we'll be looking at him first" -- yeah, right, big effing help

i think gun owners who makes these threats should do some time, not 8 yrs, but something -- this is a case of a guy with no weapon trying to bully and cause fear, so maybe probation, i don't know but off the cuff 8 years seems wrong when i've been threatened at gun point and NOTHING was done other than police telling the guy to "knock it off"

[Selatius]

5. The punishment is way out of proportion to the crime. How is this a measured response at all??? nt

[cbc5g]

12. And when theres a school shooting and your daughter or son gets killed, what will you say then?

8 years is too much though, 1 year at most if i were the judge simply because no other parts were found to point to this kid as a killer.

[elehhhhna]

14. we'd say "I wish the shooter had phoned first." ?

they are not sentencing him for a what-if, but for an offense. 8 years? Harsh.

[cbc5g]

16. Definitely harsh, but it's like screaming bomb on a plane..you just can't do it

and there has to be punishment. But you're right, 8 years is overkill.

[rzemanfl]

20. Excellent response. If people would just call ahead before they

shoot others things would be so much more civilized. Being shot by surprise must come as such a shock-better to be prepared for it, you can change, cancel your plans, comb your hair, etc. I bet the judge in this case was appointed by *.

[depakid]

15. Does ANYTHING that comes out of Texas surprise people anymore?

The state and its culture are a continuing disgrace to the nation.

[jeff30997]

17. That is nuts.

What's next? Two 4 years old playing cowboys with plastic guns sent to Gitmo?

[orleans]

19. well, to begin with...what a fucking stupid asshole kid. n/t

[rzemanfl]

21. Kids tend to be stupid assholes sometimes. Their lawyers and

the judges they appear before should not be. In this case it sounds like the trial scene in "Idiocracy."

[Dreamer Tatum]

22. I think that should be the punishment

Create a public record, akin to a tax lien, that says, 'This kid is a stupid fucking asshole.'

Would affect everything from the ability to purchase firearms to getting certain jobs. A public
branding of "asshole."

[orleans]

28. haha

[WWolf]

23. He will probably be okay

He will win in appeal. I remember a time in this country when you could threaten the presidents life and the worse thing that would happen to you is a night in jail. A threat is just a threat, nothing more.

[ironrooster]

29. "a threat is just a threat"

Do you actually believe that? I'm sorry, that is a ridiculous statement.

[ironrooster]

24. since we have the right to own guns

these kinds of threats have to be taken more seriously than in societies that restrict gun ownership - for the simple fact that the person making the terroristic threat can act on them. The sentence seems harsh - I would think something like 3 years more appropriate. I know that even 3 years seems cruel to some people - but a child making these kinds of threats shows
1)they've thought about it - and
2)they don't use good judgement

So, I don't have much sympathy for the kid - sorry.

I have 4 kids of my own think about and if one of their peers was making these kinds of threats... I'm not sure what I would do.

Frankly, I'm so gaddamn sick of these little fuckers - that I have to worry about them.

Om edit: post #10 the zero tolerance policies won't stop until we do something upstream of the problem - ie: before the kid gets so desperate and fucked up to make such a threat. Short of lots of $$ for improved social work and mental health counseling - zero tolerance is all we have to deal with the problem. Believe me - anybody that wants to just "counsel" this young man doesn't understand that these kids don't kid around - and if they're talking this shit, they could pull the trigger and kill someone you care about.

[VP505]

25. Overblown sentence, and what will be

the end result? Eight years in a state prison will take a kid doing something stupid and make a professional criminal out of him, one with a really bad attitude. The kid did something stupid and the Judge is even more stupid by giving that sentence, JUSTICE, I don't think so.

[anigbrowl]

26. It'll be reduced on appeal. A few months seems more appropriate.

[VP505]

30. Hope your right,

the kid needs to learn from that stupid stunt but the only thing eight years will teach him is how un-just the system is. There are so many ways he could be taught a lesson without ruining his life it just boggles my mind that this "no tolerance" crap has progressed to mean extreme punishment.

[anonymous171]

27. The kid sounds like an asshole, but seven years is WAYYY too harsh.