A Federal Case for a Teenager: Family Sees Tie to Ex-President (Bush)

[kskiska]

KENNEBUNK, Me., Dec. 18 — It was supposed to be simple, breaking into a small boatyard near here and stealing a marine radio to monitor police frequencies.

But when the two intruders, Patrick V., 14, and his accomplice, Christopher Conley, 19, spotted what they thought were video surveillance cameras, they panicked and set fire to the building, burning it down along with several boats and engines. Unknown to them, one of the boat engines belonged to former President George Bush, whose summer house is seven miles away.

Within days of the July 2002 fire, Secret Service and other federal agents were at Patrick's house here. His mother, Denise Collier, said they told her that the young men had "blown up the president's boat" in what might have been "a terrorist act." One federal firearms agent told her, Ms. Collier recalled, that the incident had raised "national security concerns."

Patrick then found himself in a highly unusual predicament. Instead of being tried in local juvenile court, he was turned over to the United States attorney's office in Portland, tried in Federal District Court and found guilty. He was given the maximum sentence allowed: 30 months incarceration, followed by 27 months of probation. He was then sent to a maximum security juvenile facility in Pennsylvania on the order of the federal Bureau of Prisons.

more…
http://nytimes.com/2003/12/23/national/23JUVE.html?hp

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

1. Tough shit. He burned a business down

It isn't as though he got life or the death penalty. I have a hard time having sympathy for a dumb shit that panics so he commits arson.

I'm not saying there aren't serious jurisdictional questions in the case but the rest of the article is fluff about how he's an honors student and his mommy is concerned about his education...maybe prison will educate him on the ill effects to one's freedom when they commit arson.

[Snazzy]

4. The heck with sympathy

He torched senior's boat. If he doesn't get solitary, bet he'll be the most popular kid in the hoosegow.

Plus, what does this tell us about juvenille delinquency in Kennebunkport? Shurb's roots.

[nhtfopo]

2. Too bad.

If he burned down a building big enough to hold "several" boats and boat engines, that's a sizable building and ALOT of capital sitting inside the building. He's lucky he only got that. That's alot of damage he did. And he shouldn't be tried as a juvenile. It's not like a 15-16 year old kid doesn't know burning buildings down is the wrong thing to do. And it's not like he was there innocently. HE WAS THERE BECAUSE HE BROKE IN AND WAS STEALING THINGS.

[nhtfopo]

3. And why do they need to monitor police frequencies?

Sounds like they had more crimes planned in the future.

[grasswire]

5. I have no trouble with the kid being punished....

....but I do have trouble with the exception made simply because the boat of Poppy was involved. According to the article, this is the law regarding a minor being transferred to federal custody:

>>>The first requirement is that there must be "a substantial federal interest" in the case, Mr. Schwartz said. In addition, the federal government must also show that the state court refused to take jurisdiction, or that the state did not have available programs for the juvenile or that there was a particularly serious act of violence or the involvement of guns or drugs.<<<

Clearly, this case did not meet those tests.

Three years in a federal lockup with hardcore juveniles will do more to damage this child than to correct him. It's a school for crime. And it's probably a rape house. Additionally, he's far away from his family and that's a special problem for his socialization.

[burrowowl]

6. If you can't be good

be careful. Especially nowdays!
What idiots!

[MetaTrope]

7. From the headline, I figured it was another John Hinckley story

:bounce:

[Piperay]

8. Brats got what they deserved

arson is not anything to be taken lightly. :mad:

[Gore1FL]

9. The GOP has a future presidential candiate

A thief who likes to burns things. Once he has tax cuts and deficits mastered, he'll be unstoppable force in the Republican Party.