Five days for smacking an ass? And maybe jail time?
I was once suspended for a day or two for busting a kid's nose open. Two boys got five days for smacking some ass. And then the district attorney decided he wanted to get his name in the paper.People need to accept that a certain amount of unsought contact is going to happen, intentionally and unintentionally, and that's ok. Some of it is kids being kids. Some of it is people being people. Just because you didn't want it doesn't mean it's criminal or even ethically wrong. We're quickly discarding any sense of playfulness or friendliness in attempt to "protect the children".
Were these guys out of line? Probably. Any moreso than if they played "smack the shoulder"? As a kid, I remember guys smacking the back of other kids' necks and yelling "redneck!". Should they have been punished? Sure. But there needs to be a sense of scale. Not every action is criminal and not everything criminal is final--lots of people can learn from their mistakes and it doesn't take a decade in prison. That kind of "tough on crime" helps no one.
Oh, and "sex offenders" have a lower rate of recidividism (repeat offense) than non-"sex offenders". So says the DOJ on more than one occassion.
Not that Georgia takes that into consideration.
posted by Lachlan @ 12:09 AM
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