reply to post by Maslo
I want to respectfully submit that the difference between these two sentences is the nature of the case. I'm going to use some quotes, but before I
do, I want to suggest another way of looking at this. This is not about "the crime". We are not assigning an absolute "value" or "price" on human life
in a black and white, eye-for-an-eye fashion. For the sake of brevity I will say this; Kids do not have training in regards to the Standard Operating
Procedures for military service, and generally are not educated about gun safety, much less having any experience in combat training. They are not
fully-formed adults in any sense of the word. There is a huge difference between being 14 and 18 in terms of emotional, social, and psychological
development. The major mitigating circumstances for this case is that both of these boys suffered through various forms of abuse,coercion and
influences by both the system, and their families. This was a failure in part between all of the adults around them to a greater and lesser degree,
depending on whom you're talking about.
en.wikipedia.org...
Lawrence King
Lawrence Fobes "Larry" King was born on January 13, 1993[8] at the Ventura County Medical Center in Ventura, California. King was adopted at age two
by Gregory and Dawn King. His biological father had abandoned his wife, and his mother was a drug addict who failed to care for her son properly.[1]
King was prescribed medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and according to Gregory King, Larry had been diagnosed with reactive
attachment disorder, a condition in which a child fails to develop relationships with his or her caregivers. He was also forced to repeat the first
grade of schooling. By the third grade, King began to be bullied by his fellow students due to his effeminacy and openness about being gay, having
come out at ten years old.[1]
At the age of twelve, King was placed on probation for theft and vandalism. In November 2007, he was removed from his adoptive home and placed in a
group home and treatment center named Casa Pacifica[9] after he alleged that his adoptive father was physically abusing him, a charge Gregory King
denied.[1]
The bullying continued when King transferred to E.O. Green Junior High School in the seventh grade, and intensified when he began attending school
wearing women's accessories and clothing, high heels and makeup in January 2008. King's younger brother Rocky also suffered bullying because of
Larry's appearance.[1] The school could not legally stop King from dressing as such because of a California hate crime law that prevents gender
discrimination, although teachers at the school thought that his clothing was clearly in violation of school code, which prevents students from
wearing clothing considered distracting.[1] The school issued a formal notice to every teacher on January 29, 2008 via email. Written by eighth-grade
assistant principal Sue Parsons, it read, in part:
We have a student on campus who has chosen to express his sexuality by wearing make-up. It is his right to do so. Some kids are finding it amusing,
others are bothered by it. As long as it does not cause classroom disruptions he is within his rights. We are asking that you talk to your students
about being civil and non-judgmental. They don't have to like it but they need to give him his space. We are also asking you to watch for possible
problems. If you wish to talk further about it please see me or Joy Epstein.[1]
Joy Epstein was one of the school's assistant principals, and also openly lesbian. Several teachers, and King's father, accused Epstein of encouraging
Larry's flamboyance as part of her "political agenda."[1] King also taunted boys in the halls, saying "I know you want me" and was known to make
inappropriate comments to boys while they were changing for P.E. class.[1] However, prosecuting attorneys filed court documents that stated King was
not sexually harassing other students in the weeks before the shooting. McInerney and King had been in several verbal altercations described as
"acrimonious" by the prosecutor.[10]
www.latimes.com...
The victim's mother, Dawn King, revealed for the first time Monday that she had contacted school officials four days before the shooting in an
effort to solicit their cooperation in toning down her son's behavior. The boy had been taken from the Kings' home two months earlier by authorities
because of problems at home.
en.wikipedia.org...
Brandon McInerney
Brandon David McInerney was born on January 24, 1994 in Ventura, California. His mother Kendra had a criminal history and was addicted to
methamphetamine.[1][8] In 1993, Kendra accused her husband William of shooting her in the arm with a .45-caliber pistol.[1] In another incident,
William McInerney choked his wife almost to unconsciousness after she accused him of stealing ADHD medication from her older son.[11] He pleaded no
contest and served ten days in jail and 36 months probation on a charge of domestic violence. Between August 2000 and February 2001, William McInerney
had contacted Child Protective Services at least five times about concerns of his son living with his mother.[8] In 2001, he filed a restraining order
against Kendra, and in 2004, Brandon was placed in the custody of his father, as his mother had entered a drug rehabilitation program.[1]
The shooting
In July 2008, Newsweek reported that a day or two before the shooting King walked onto the basketball court in the middle of a game and asked
McInerney to be his Valentine in front of the team who then made fun of McInerney.[1] Just after lunchtime on February 11, King passed McInerney in a
corridor and called out, "Love you baby". Later that day King was seen "parading" back and forth in high-heeled boots and makeup in front of
McInerney. According to a teacher, a group of boys was laughing at McInerney who was getting visibly upset and assistant principal Joy Epstein,
noticing McInerney's reaction, wagged her finger at him.[12] When McInerney endured teasing because of the incident, he attempted to recruit other
students to assault King but no one expressed interest. He then told one of King's friends to say goodbye to him "because she would never see him
[King] again".[10]
This kid planned this out. He was troubled, but he was found competent. This was pre-meditated. If another person this age range planned the robbery
of your home including harming and/or murdering of family, you would want them to be tried as an adult, no matter how dysfunctional their family life
is.
I feel that the article souced by the OP ( Not slamming the OP, questioning the original article -
www.latimes.com... ), skews the emphasis on the real issues in this
case in a way that polarizes the case socially.
"Larry had a complicated life, but he did not deserve to be murdered," said the youth's father, Greg King.
The examples above and below over-simplify the issues.
McInerney shot King in a school computer lab at E.O Green Junior High in Oxnard in February 2008, after days of conflict between the boys.
Students and teachers at the trial testified that King had been dressing in women's accessories and wearing makeup, and was flirting aggressively with
male students on campus who did not want the attention.
The victim's mother, Dawn King, said she was told that her son had a civil right to explore his sexual identity.
"I knew, gut instinct, that something serious was going to happen," she said. "They should have contained him, contained his behavior."
Prosecutors said the first trial showed that the case was too emotional to take to trial a second time.
"The first jury was unable to keep their emotions out of it," Ventura County Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. Mike Frawley said. "This really tugged
powerfully at people's hearts,"
Lawrence King had obvious emotional, psychological, and behavioral issues that were being mishandled.
This is the essence of cases like these, with all of their social implications and issues. This expalins why there was such a difference in these
types of sentences.
This is not about Gay v/s Straight; This is about justice being served with fairness, conscience and compassion.
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