:lol2:

I feel like I've mentioned this here before, so forgive me if I have, but in 3rd grade, in Tuscon, Arizona in 1976, my friend brought a handgun to school for show and tell. I think it was a Luger.

The teacher asked to hold it in her desk for the day, but gave it to him for the show and tell portion so he could show it and tell about it.

He had found it in the desert, and his dad let him keep it. He told the story about how he fired it at a cactus one time, and when he went to look at the hole in the cactus, he saw a dead lizard behind the cactus that the bullet had also hit.

At the end of the day, the teacher gave him the gun back, and he went home. Maybe there were some phone calls that I wasn't aware of, but the boy was back in school the next day and seemed perfectly normal. No evidence that he had gotten in trouble.

A coincidence of NY Times news articles today and Glatt's post above.
...maybe a bit of "deeper thinking" is creeping into society at large


NY Times
JANE GROSS
12/3/13
Born of Grief, ‘Three Strikes’ Laws Are Being Rethought
——————

NY Times
LIZETTE ALVAREZ
December 2, 2013

Seeing the Toll, Schools Revise Zero Tolerance

YEARS ago I guess everyone who could afford a pocket knife, had one in school. I've carried my shot gun to school and left it in the principle's office. Then on school bus to spend the weekend with friend in the country. If you had a problem with someone, you carried it to the football field and sorted it out. No teachers involved. I've had to go get stitches afterwards. No 3 day pass or anything.

I guess I'm in the camp where assault isn't the answer to minor disagreements and children should not be carrying fucking guns everywhere.

And the beat goes on...
And of course...

I'm with Mary Adams. The DA didn't have to take the case on. And they are elected. Vote the fascists out.

Yeah, I was surprised to learn how much power DAs actually have in that regard. Just about any crime, they can simply choose not to prosecute and the whole thing disappears. Of course the fear of getting voted out is supposed to keep them in line, but if there's no big media coverage of a particular crime, it can be swept under the rug without too much hassle at all.

But DAs do need convictions to show they are earning they're keep, and if they offend the cops they won't get the cooperation/support they need to do that.

The DA has no business in this matter. It is a municipal court matter that will be prosecuted by the city prosecutor. The kids have the option to file a civil rights violation that would be investigated by the FBI, but it would more likely end up a civil suit

I'm confused, Sarge. Don't all the city prosecutors work for the DA's office?

District Attorneys prosecute felony cases that occur in their jurisdiction. Municipal Prosecutors handle misdemeanor cases in their jurisdiction. Justice Courts or County Courts, which use the County Prosecutor, handle misdemeanor cases generated by the sheriff's department, set bonds in felony cases unless it is one of the 5 heinous crimes which can result in the depth penalty or life in prison, and handle preliminary hearings for District Court.

To be charged by the District Attorney in a felony case, he can take a case directly to the grand jury and seek a secret indictment. That forgoes all of the pretrial hearings and takes the suspect directly to trial reducing the discovery time.

So to answer your question, a municipal prosecutor or county prosecutor can tell the DA to fuck off. Now it really gets interesting when we factor in the federal prosecutors and the duties of Federal magistrates, district judges, and circuit judges.

The whole problem in understanding in who does what can be boiled down to police dramas and that totally unrealistic piece of shit show CSI. Who has ever heard of a forensic investigator making arrests? A forensic investigator only collects and analyzes evidence. The results are given to the criminal investigators ( sworn and commissioned officers) who interpret the evidence and decide whom to arrest.

Whew! That felt good to get off of my chest

I'm afraid we have cultural differences. Maybe we didn't have school shootings back then because we settled problems with our fists. I was small and picked on till I stood up and knocked a kid out with my trombone case applied to his head.

As for guns, Addie has been shooting .22's since she was 4 yoa. Just a different culture

Nowadays, you would have gotten in just as much trouble as the bully. Maybe more, if the only thing the school employee saw was you hitting him, and none of the harassment leading up to it. Another side effect of zero tolerance.

Right, you were raised that way and so it is just fine with you, Q.E.D.