What purpose would a life sentence serve? Seriously. This kid didn't hurt or kill anyone but did humuliate some. How many of us do some infraction of the law at any given time? Would it serve us well if we were sentenced heavy-handed? I compare the violation this kid did as equal to a traffic accident. When was the last time someone got a life sentence for being in an accident? The girl who hit me last month was two weeks shy of her 21st birthday, should she go to jail for not yielding the right of way or should her insurance go up to "encourage" her to become a safer driver? If she wasn't sober, it would be a different story, but she wasn't, nor was she on any substance that was illegal.
Dixie, are you asking for "justice" or "an eye for an eye" based on what you recommended?
There is a BIG difference between a minor fender bender traffic accident and purposely making these prank SWAT calls that cost law enforcement agencies thousands of dollars as well as man power that could have been free to respond to an actual emergency. Any 18 year old kid is old enough to know that such calls are not funny and illegal. Maybe these kids mama's didn't care about them enough to teach them right from wrong, but still we must place the blame where it lies.
With guns drawn and a wrong move on account of the victim could cause the SWAT team to needlessly open fire especially in cases where it suspected that the person may be armed and dangerous when that is NOT the case. The infant in the house could have easily been killed if a wrong assumption was made especially since it was NOT known that there was an infant in the residence.
What is the punishment in your state for reckless driving, or driving while intoxicated with multiple offenses for such behavior?
The only way this could ever equate to a traffic violation is if the person has multiple offenses for driving while intoxicated, driving under the influence, or reckless drivng such as street racing on busy streets (this is very common in urban areas that lack a safe race track).
An 18 year old driving like that has some MAJOR maturity issues and I think you would agree that they should NOT be behind the wheel.
The same goes for these kids that were making these prank SWAT calls in which there was very real chance of someone getting seriously injured or killed needlessly. These kids need to be punished in a similar manner.
So yes you could say I am seeking justice via an eye for an eye method.
My mother always told me growing up - if you don't want to do the time, don't do the crime!
I think 50 years is too long and at the same time, I think 13 years is too long. Perhaps this 18-year old punk needs to pay for this out of his pocket and, since he used his mommy and daddy's phone line/internet connection, they can help pay. Kinda like an ADA violation, which is unappealable, the company who gets one can't appeal, this kid should pay every dollar that it cost, not only the police, but to the people affected by his immaturity -- lost wages, counseling, et al. THAT would be the only sentence, coming short of cutting off both his index fingers, that I'd go along with.
