Shelby High School
The Shelby High School
student, in Shelby, Ohio, who was arrested last week, I know him personally. The
problem with his situation is that he was only responding to threats
and rumors circulating around the school he attends. There were
rumors that a student was gong to come and shoot up the school. So
the student who was arrested for making counter threats was only
trying to scare off the person who had made the first threats. So the
student took to social media to make counter threats and was arrested
for it. But why didn't the student who made the first threats get
prosecuted? Why didn't the students who were spreading the rumors get
in trouble? This is still a form of “inducing panic” pursuant to
ORC 2917.31, because the original threats and rumors took place in a
public place – school, and caused panic and a reaction from the
student who was arrested.
Now, I'm not going to
completely excuse anyone's bad decisions, but I have to look at
things from a logical and honest perspective. Here are some facts:
The student who made the counter threats did not necessarily have
access to guns. He was not in a public place when he made the counter
threats, and no evacuations had to be performed as a result. People,
especially teenagers, say dumb things on social media all the time.
The student who made the counter threats didn't want to go to school
the next day: he said that he feared for his life. He didn't know he
was breaking the law by making counter threats. In fact, most
teenagers do not know the law, and no one really educates them about
the law. Even more troubling, many adults do know the law, and most
of them break the law all the time without even knowing it, because
there are way too many laws on the law book. Even a cop told me one
time, “There are so many laws; we are unable to enforce them all.”
So there has to be a level of sympathy and accountability for certain
people and situations as they pertain to the law.
But this is just a lesson
for that young man, but he does not need to be an example.
There is way too much of that in America. No more, I say.
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