'Don't Snitch' in 'burbs - Teens do $18,000 Damage to House - Get off $750

[RamboLiberal]

What a despicable bunch. Wonder how many will turn in to Young Repukes!

Imagine having your house ravaged by hard-drinking teenagers who doused your clothes with urine, pooped on your piano, and played catch with 10 pounds of homemade meatballs while you were away for the day. Imagine watching the kids who got caught get off without so much as an hour of community service, a mandatory essay, or an AA meeting.

Not one of the 10 Haddonfield teens who struck plea deals last week apologized in court unprompted. Only after being nudged by a judge did two boys and one parent say, uh, sorry.

If juvenile court is supposed to provide life lessons for the young, how come it's Colleen Falasca, the 49-year-old victim in this case, who feels like she got punished?

"These parents are cowards and they're raising their kids to wiggle out of difficult situations," Falasca told me, incensed by the so-called end to the story that has captivated the region for a month.

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/nj/8199112.html

More on the story at: http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/8144497.html
http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070625/COLUMNISTS16/706250352/1065/NEWS01

[tk2kewl]

1. it seems like civil court should be next

[Warpy]

6. Seems like civil court will be

although in that area the rationalization will be "Oh, boys will be boys, and besides, she was insured!

The judge didn't do any of those kids a favor. They should have been out with buckets and mops cleaning up messes all over the city until the damages had been worked off.

[deadmessengers]

14. The fact that she was insured makes it even easier

It's called subrogation. If an insurer pays out a claim they gain the right to sue, on behalf of their insured, the people at fault. And you bet your ass their insurance company has got their army of lawyers working on that right now.

[LiberalEsto]

16. Insurance won't cover meatballs

Do they have any IDEA how much work it takes to make 10 pounds of homemade meatballs?

[Warpy]

19. Maybe, maybe not

$18,000 might be chump change to them. If they'd burned down the house and caused a loss in the hundreds of thousands, oh yeah.

I'm just furious that a plea bargain was extended to these little punks. Any DA worth the title needed to throw the book at them in terms of community service and restitution to discourage the same behavior in the future.

Now they'll all grow up to be like Gee Dumbya.

[AndyA]

7. Yep - drag the little pieces of shit into court and get judgements against them

so they can spend the rest of their worthless lives making restitution. If the parents were decent, they'd make their kids do something to pay for the damages they caused. But no...they won't. And someday, they'll be on a reality talk show saying they had no idea their kids would grow up and kill all those people...they had no idea they had so much anger, so much hatred in their hearts.

[LiberalFighter]

8. Parents need to know that their children will be punished

And that the punishment if given right will also make the lives of the parents difficult.

[depakid]

11. The insurer can pursue subrogation claims against the parents

to recoup their losses.

I imagine Pennsylvania law provides some remedies for the homeowner as well.

[RamboLiberal]

17. This happened in New Jersey

But I'd imagine same thing for New Jersey law.

[MADem]

10. Ohhhhhh, yeaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!!

And I'd go for Fred Goldman-like sums...hell, Missing Pants sums!!! I'd get all righteous and dog those fuckers for the next twenty years.

That's just DISPICABLE, that behavior.

[AndreaCG]

2. But a 17 year old gets 10 years for consensual sex with a 15 year old

Priorities, anyone?

[MADem]

12. If some punks pooped in YOUR piano, I'd wager you'd be irritated

And since when, pray tell, do two wrongs make a right?

What are you saying, that no one should care about this because justice was denied in a completely separate, unrelated case???

I'd say the "priority" should be to making justice better across the board--not telling this victim to stuff it because another judge in another state fucked up, too....

[mitchum]

18. MADem, I don't think AndreaCG meant that all...not at all...

it seems that she is rightly disgusted that the GA teen received 10 years for a consensual act, while these true miscreants got off so lightly for such destructive behavior. Please go back and read her post again.

Man, you know DU has to be going through a little bit of a crazy period when I'M playing peacemaker. The world has turned upside down, I tell ya! :)

[MADem]

20. IT's hard to tell.

Priorities, anyone? could mean anything, depending on how you approach it.

I'm not ticked, anyway. I'm just astounded at the crassness of this behavior, the sheer meanness of it all. Anytime I think I can no longer be shocked, I am.

I think it all sucks--the kid in jail for consensual, idiotic behavior (Is it normal for fifteen year old girls to aspire to perform in home made porno films with a crowd of their friends? Is this the new standard for popularity? Grab the microphone, there, honey?? I mean, really!!! And the lads involved--weren't they taught to treat women with the same respect they'd like to enjoy?) ....and these little baaaastids who wrecked this family's HOME, who deserve to have their hineys whipped on Main Street! And then they should be made to clean up shit, real smelly, wet shit, for a good year...and when they're done with that, they should pay back the costs of the damage that they did, times ten.

When you ask the question: Who's raising the children? The answer seems to be CABLE TV. And really shitty cable, at that!!! It sure doesn't seem like there's much parenting happening here.

Honestly--I didn't grow up in a terribly strict home, but if I were EVER involved in that kind of shit, I'd have fully expected my parents, both of them, to hand me my ass after they were done ripping me to shreds. It would be inconceivable to me to participate in that sort of nonsense.
I'd never have even thought of engaging in that sort of behavior. I guess there's none of that quaint "disgracing the family name" stuff to worry about nowadays....

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

3. Being a chooch...

Seems to be very much in fashion these days.

[deadmessengers]

15. Ok, I'll bite

What's a chooch?

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

22. See:

jerkoff. ;-)

Kind of a NJ word, ya' know?

[mitchum]

4. My great grandmother was a McCoy, so I know what I would do...

if I were Ms Falasca...

[uberblonde]

5. Actually, this is Camden County, a predominently Democratic county...

Haddonfield is one of those "very best" neighborhoods. It's filled with "helicopter" parents who won't let their little darlings ever have a moment's worry about anything.

In my experience, rich kids always have the best drugs. So I'm guessing there's that, too.

[acmavm]

9. Rich kids always have the best drugs. That's they way its always been.

They have the biggest vices too.

It's their worth as human beings that's non-existant.

[GeorgeGist]

13. I seem to remember that ...

parents are responsible for creating children ... so perhaps it's the rich parents who have the biggest vices.

[maggiegault]

21. Something needs to be done about this ACTIVIST JUDGE

This judge does not reflect the views or morals of the group at large, our society at large, and something should be done to him for his ACTIVISM.

I am serious. This case is a disgrace.

[JPZenger]

23. We Never Intentionally Damaged Houses at Parties

When I was 16 and 17, we had keg parties in houses while parents were away. However, we never intentionally damaged anything. The teenagers should have been required to pay a larger share of the costs and do community service. I don't think insurance should matter - restitution should be based upon the damage and not whether the person had paid lots of insurance premiums or not. Part of the problem is that many more kids were at the party but were not charged.

In this case, a foster daughter told them where the key was hidden, but then she took off because she was scared.