Teen's Vomit Sentence a Conundrum for Cops

[LiviaOlivia]

Teen's Vomit Sentence a Conundrum for Cops
Salon.com


July 31,2005 | OLATHE, Kan. -- Police departments in Johnson County aren't sure how they'll carry out an unusual sentence a judge imposed on a teenager convicted of intentionally vomiting on his teacher.

Johnson County Magistrate Judge Michael Farley on Tuesday sentenced the 17-year-old boy to spend the next four months cleaning up anytime someone gets sick in a police car.

The teen was found guilty of a misdemeanor count of battery for vomiting on his Spanish teacher during the last day of classes at Olathe Northwest High School. Prosecutors said the crime was intentional, but the defense claimed the boy vomited because he was nervous about his final exams.

While the Olathe, Overland Park and Shawnee police departments are still awaiting official word on the sentence and details on how to contact the teenager, they also aren't sure how or if they would use his services.

~snip~

http://www.salon.com/wire/ap/archive.html?wire=D8BMP6F00.html


The question cannot be asked enough. What's the matter with Kansas?

[SouthernDem2004]

1. Ick! Judge needs to rethink the sentence. Major health risk.../nt

[seriousstan]

4. He imposed the health risk on others, it is the logistics that are tough.

I really couldn't give a rat's ass about the " health risks" for this convicted vomiteer.

[mike_c]

8. convicted vomiteer?

OK, right now, vomit. If you can do it voluntarily, without inducing a gag response (e.g. by sticking something into your thoat), I'll be VERY surprised. Vomiting IS a common response to extreme stress, but I'm skeptical about this kid's supposed ability to hurl forth on a whim.

[beam me up scottie]

11. Dude, he said he was going to do it.

And bragged about it afterwards.

[mike_c]

16. what's the source of that information...?

There's nothing about that in the OP link. :shrug:

It still surprises me-- again, could you command your stomach to vomit right now, even if you desperately wanted to? This has got to be a pretty rare skill!

[beam me up scottie]

17. We made ourselves throw up to get out of school more than once.

Here's a link:
http://www.kctv.com/global/story.asp?s=3645496

[mike_c]

19. wow, ok....

Truth really is sometimes stranger than fiction. Thanks for the additional link.

[beam me up scottie]

21. Have you never induced

vomiting ?
The old finger-down-the-throat came in handy in the nurses office at school.
Course, my mother wasn't as easy, she would only buy that so many times...

[mike_c]

24. yes, but that's different...

...I mean, if someone does that (a) you'd have plenty of warning about what is to come, and (b) it's hardly instantaneous. You have to keep the gag reflex going pretty vigorously for several seconds at least. It's hard to believe that the teacher would just stand there within range while the kid shoved his finger down his throat and retched.

[Gildor Inglorion]

36. It's not all that rare - I've always been able to do it...

just think of it as "swallowing up." Of course, I've never hurled on anyone!
:D

[madeline_con]

29. I took a kid to the clinic one time, and...

the nurse told me he does it all the time, to get Mom to come pick him up.

I took him back to the cafeteria and made him apologize to the custodian who had to clean it up.

He should have been made to do it, but I was also witness to a "barf-o-rama" inspired by one kid's hurling because she had the flu. Getting it up as quickly as possible is a good idea.

[Karmakaze]

37. When I was young, I could do it...

All I needed was a stomach full of fizzy drink, and I could hurl on command. If there was anything in there but drink, it all came out.

[kestrel91316]

40. Two wrongs don't make a right, and tit-for-tat justice is sometimes .

rather JUVENILE. Cleaning up other people's bodily fluids is a major risk for HIV and no court in the world should be subjecting a child to the risk of death for what he did ONE TIME. There are any number of other, more appropriate punishments.

[undergroundpanther]

6. I think our culture is sick

I know I am biased I am emetephobic ..

But there is way too much puking being seen as funny,as a way to humiliate others,as a game. People LAUGH at sick people..Peoople act as if getting sick around others is not gross, a health hazard, and rude.

As for making the kid clean up cop cars I'd call that cruel and unusual punishment.

There used to be fines,community service.

Judges imposing"creative" punishments are just normalizing torture. Making vengeance an OK thing to do. The punishment this judge imposed is what ABUSIVE parents would cook up to teach jr a lesson. It's sick.

If our culture didn't make being sick appear "funny" and fetishize puke as if it's not what is is a bio hazard, maybe it wouldn't occur to kids to use it to DISGUST people... like a weapon and excuse all in one. It is no different than any bio hazardous body fluid.
Would you throw poop on a teacher would you throw possibly contaminated blood or semen onto people that you were upset by?

And if that kid had anxiety issues he very well may have barfed on his teacher with less control than most of us have..Either way it isn't funny and a judge exposing a kid to bio hazards only professional cleaners are trained to deal with with proper equipment and disinfectants is just abusive.Who knows if he would be exposed to infections aids etc.Addicts, drunks,stab victims all sorts of body fluids and bio hazards end up in cop cars.

Either way body fluid biohazards on your person,left on the street,left in a class or left anywhere is not only rude, disgusting and filthy it is dangerous to everyone elses health.It ain't funny and it is not safe.

[proud2BlibKansan]

10. The kid did it on purpose

His friends testified that he had been bragging all year that he would puke on this teacher on the last day of school. And he did. He was also found guilty in a trial. This punishment is not part of any plea bargain.

Funny that you worry about this kid being exposed to biohazards but don't mention the danger to the teacher he puked on.

[undergroundpanther]

22. I hope the teacher is alright

I did worry.
Did the teacher get to a doctor?
Despite the horror the teacher faced.. making the kid clean up bio hazards is not the answer either.

When our culture on TV makes sickness into a mere messy joke.
Everywhere on tv and movies getting sick is made into humiliating or vengeful jokes,and it is no surprise some asshole would think it's funny. He has been shown it's attention getting,funny and shocking and a weapon.And hell yes this shit pisses me off.Because it is WRONG.
Sickness is not funny.
That is WHY I said the stuff about how our culture makes getting sick funny or into a weapon.It is a sign of how fucked up in the head and heart our culture really is.The market makes sickness sell because it gets attention and it is one of the few things left that has shock value. Over the years puke has been shown more and more on TV and In movies.And I HATE it.I don't watch anything much anymore.All it is is crimes,killing sociopath,rape ,traumas,torture,disaster,death,mayhem,religion.In other words trigger central.It was not always this way.But it is NOW. I wish it would stop.

Our culture is violently going psychotic it is lost in a vast nightmare it is conditioned to think is "entertaining" it is making us into sympathetic sociopaths...Humanity is going to destroy itself and the planet, And I want no part of it..But I am being dragged along because I am sadly part of this sick sad world.

[llmart]

33. I agree with you......

and your sentiments about our culture. Everything goes any more. I, too, feel like I retreat more and more each day away from the masses because the masses have gotten downright goofy. I want no part of this sick culture in America. Look at our "entertainment" on TV - wow, let's show people eating insects, etc. on Fear FActor and call it entertainment. I know my parents, if they were still alive, would be appalled and would probably prohibit having a TV in our house.

[madeline_con]

30. "clean up cop cars ... community service."

That's what it is, community service. A 'fine' of sorts, also.

[Montauk6]

35. Undergroundpanther, shake hands with a fellow emetophobe

I too am puzzled by this cultural evolution that seems to DEMAND graphic images of hurling. It's to the point where I have to ask people who recommend movies whether there's a puke scene. Now it's even on TV for chrissakes!!! I don't get it either. Realism? Bullshit! It's gross!!!

Mull over this: Howard Stern features women who puke on each other, no known fine. Howard Stern begins criticizing * and Li'l Colin, fines up the wazoo.

USA? Ancient Rome? Dunno anymore.

[proud2BlibKansan]

7. This kid

deliberately vomited on his teacher.

I think the sentence is extremely appropriate.

[beam me up scottie]

9. Yes, he did, and he bragged about it before and after the fact.

Even if he ends up getting out of cleaning the cop cars, I like to think he's not feeling quite so clever right now.

[PunkPop]

39. It's kind of silly really.

While I can't quibble with the spirit of the punishment itself, the police are saying they're not even sure how it would work or if they'd be able to use him. Why should they be burdened by this deliquent's court ordered punishment? They've got other work to do.

If the police decide it can't be done then what? More court time to decide an alternative? How much time and money does that take up?

This judge sounds arrogant and foolish.

[ashling]

27. How so?

Someone has to clean it up.

When I worked at Mississippi State Hospital we had to deal with bodily fluids all the time. Biohazards are dealt with in a safe way on a daily basis.

[sandnsea]

2. cruel and unusual?

Maybe they could just have the young man clean up at the SPCA or something? Maybe the adults who think up stuff like this punishment should ask themselves where the kid got such a wacky idea in the first place. Wasn't that teacher who wanted to feed puppies to a snake in Kansas too?

Yeah, what IS the matter with Kansas?

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. Are you suggesting the school gave him the idea to puke on a teacher?

That is nuts.

[sandnsea]

18. Hey, they feed puppies to snakes there

Where'd that teacher get that idea? Where'd the judge get the idea to punish a kid by making him clean up puke out of cop cars? Sounds to me like the puking kid apple didn't fall far from the nutso adult tree. Live what you learn.

[proud2BlibKansan]

42. And a kid in Ohio killed and cooked a pet rabbit and a guinea pig

for an in class demonstration. Does that mean all kids in Ohio do these kinds of class demonstrations? Or all teachers in Ohio allow it?

[merwin]

3. I don't know many people (without ED's) who can vomit on command...

[proud2BlibKansan]

13. Then you haven't spent much time around kids I guess

Every couple of years, we have a rash of 3rd or 4th grade girls who vomit deliberately to get sent home or to protest something being served in the cafeteria.

It happens a lot more often than you realize.

[Swamp Rat]

5. Bio hazzard.

While the teen is certainly guilty of assault, the sentence is just plain stupid... though, somewhat creative. :puke:

[proud2BlibKansan]

15. And the kid vomiting on the teacher

wasn't a biohazard?

I would assume the cops will supply the kid with protective clothing, rubber gloves and a mask to wear while he is cleaning up vomit. I also think we can assume the teacher had none of these items to protect himself from the kid's vomit.

[Swamp Rat]

25. "And the kid vomiting on the teacher wasn't a biohazard?"

Irrelevant. We know the child committed assault and had no regard for the health of the teacher.

edit: I am a teacher and I say the punishment is cruel and unusual, but most of all, dangerous.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

14. Community service shouldn't be punishment...

It should be therapy. Have the kid volunteer in a hospital for awhile, so he'll know what it is to feel useful.

[truthisfreedom]

20. so the judge effectively punishes the cops for the kid's actions against a

teacher.

thoughtless.

[snot]

23. Maybe it shdda just been he cleans up any vomit, anywhere . . .

I know a lot of parents who'd appreciate that.

[keopeli]

26. Stupid judge. Why not make him work in a hospice?

[Tace]

28. Everything Else Aside -- It Was A Kid Puking On A Teacher

KID -- Minor
TEACHER -- Adult

Anybody into punishment here... is just that... into punishment.


BTW, I don't normally think of puke as a "biohazard." Anymore than you breathing in my general direction is a biohazard. What a bunch of crap.

[henslee]

31. Teen vomit... as opposed to teen spirit?

[Sgent]

32. Although unusual

this doesn't IMHO rise to "cruel" -- more like appropriate.

As to the danger, that's bordering on the obsurd. Hundred's of thousands of people clean up vomit daily, and it is certainly less risky than giving shots or the like. Give him a little training, and the vomit cleaner he should be.

Although, to be fair to the police dept, I would probably assign the kid to work at a local hospital for the next 2 months.

[Eric J in MN]

34. The founding fathers didn't want judges to impose strange sentences

hence the "cruel and unusual" ban in the US Consitution.

Plus, he doesn't have the training to safely clean up vomit.

[Sgent]

41. To be unconstitutional

a punishment must be both cruel and unusual. Just creul, or just unusual, by itself doesn't rise to the standard.

[donsu]

38. judge should have sent kid for therapy

to learn respect for teachers/adults

to learn why unnecessary vomiting is a hazard to his own body and why vomiting on someone is a medical hazard plus total rudeness.

is there some TV show for kids/teens that has throwing up as a fun payback tactic?