School shooter soon to be released

Mitchell Johnson is about to be released back into the community in Jonesboro, Arkansas.

Because of a since-closed loophole in Arkansas' juvenile justice system, the state had no way to hold Johnson and Golden beyond their 18th birthdays. Federal prosecutors used weapons laws to keep the boys locked up until age 21. Golden is scheduled to be freed in 2007.

Dale Haas, the sheriff at the time of the shootings, questions whether justice has been served as Johnson walks free.

"How could anyone think they would be rehabilitated?" Haas asked.

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Four students and Shannon Wright, an English teacher, were killed; 10 others were injured when Johnson and Andrew Golden (due to be released in 2007) stole rifles and then fired on pupils and staff in their high school in the spring of 1998.

I'm all for rehabilitation and giving others a second chance; but this release is because of a loophole in the law - not because the fairest sentence was actually served. Can you imagine if Klebold and Harris had been caught, and jailed, and become subject to a similar loophole?

I don't know...it's just troubling that their sentencing was so flawed to begin with, although legally sentence has been served as per the law.

That's what I find to be probably the biggest fault in our system-- The fact that there are so many loopholes. I mean, think about murder trials in which the defendant really did commit the crime, but because he has a good lawyer, they get off on a loophole, allowing him to walk the streets free. This is probably just another disaster waiting to happen...