Justice is served... not!


washingtontimes.com/national/20050810-104955-5065r.htm

School shooter released

August 11, 2005

JONESBORO, Ark. (AP) -- Seven years after taking part in a schoolyard ambush in which four students and a teacher were killed, Mitchell Johnson will walk out of a federal detention center today .
   His impending release has this northeast Arkansas town on edge, and many still question the fairness of releasing Johnson on his 21st birthday because of a now-closed loophole in the law.
   Mitchell Wright, whose wife, Shannon, was killed in the attack, said he has tried to explain Johnson's release to his son, who was 2 when his mother died.
   "He's told me, 'I don't think it's right he gets to go home to his momma and I only get to see my momma on videos,'?" Mr. Wright said.
   Whitney Irving was shot in the back but survived. Although she has since graduated from high school, married and had a child, the attack remains a part of her everyday life.
   "A lot of people are really scared to this very day, and we have not forgotten anything," she said.
   On March 24, 1998, Johnson, then 13, and Andrew Golden, then 11, stole high-powered rifles from Golden's grandfather. Dressed in camouflage, they waited in the woods behind the school until the lunch hour, when Golden ran into a hallway to trigger a fire alarm.
   As classmates and teachers filed out of the buildings, Johnson and Golden opened fire. Children ducked or scrambled while teachers tried to herd students back into the building. Four students and Shannon Wright, an English teacher, were killed; 10 others were injured.
   Because of a since-closed loophole in Arkansas' juvenile justice system, the state had no way to hold Johnson and Golden beyond their 18th birthdays. Federal prosecutors used weapons laws to keep the boys locked up until age 21. Golden is scheduled to be freed in 2007.
   Dale Haas, the sheriff at the time of the shootings, questions whether justice has been served as Johnson walks free.
   "How could anyone think they would be rehabilitated?" Mr. Haas asked.
   With some residents also angry over the sentences, Craighead County Sheriff Jack McCann wants to offer protection to Johnson's mother, Gretchen Woodard, who still lives near the school where the shootings took place.
   "I want to prepare her that, if he's coming back here, there are going to be some problems -- to what extent I don't know," Sheriff McCann said. "We are going to be very open with her about what could happen and do whatever we can to help them."
   Mrs. Woodard has said that her son will not return to Arkansas when he is released from prison in Memphis, Tenn. She said he wants to become a minister and has hinted he will move at least a day's drive from Jonesboro and enroll in college.
   

That fucker should never see the light of day...........

People like this are the reasons we build prisons.....he should never be released.

Quoted: People like this are the reasons we build prisons.....he should never be released.

He will probably go out and kill someone again with a gun and then the million mom crowd will scream about how guns are the problem.

In the early 50's or earlier he would have been lynched if he returned to the community where the crime happened.  But, he would have been executed for the crime, so lynching would not have been needed.

People were a lot smarter back then.  

The GI Bill and other changes opened the door to a college education for a much higher percentage of our population and our population seems to be a lot dumber as a result of that "education".

It wasn't supposed to work that way.  College or a University was supposed to make people smarter, not dumber.

Quoted: Quoted: People like this are the reasons we build prisons.....he should never be released. He will probably go out and kill someone again with a gun and then the million mom crowd will scream about how guns are the problem.

http://www.bradycampaign.org/press/release.php?release=679
(link left cold)


I guess they read your post.

JONESBORO KILLER,
LEAVING PRISON TOMORROW,
WILL BE FREE TO BUY FIREARMS
For Immediate Release:
08-10-2005

Contact Communications:
(202) 898-0792
Memphis, TN – You kill five people in cold blood, shocking an entire nation.  You go to prison.  Seven years later, you get out, and you are free to buy all the guns you want.

What a country.

Mitchell Johnson, who as a 13-year-old on March 24, 1998 joined with 11-year-old Andrew Golden to plan and execute the attack at Jonesboro, Arkansas’ Westside Middle School that resulted in the death of four students and a teacher and the wounding of 10 others, pleaded guilty to murder.  Under Arkansas law, he could only be imprisoned until he turned 21, which is tomorrow, when he will leave a Memphis, Tennessee detention center.  Under Arkansas law, he is also not a prohibited purchaser of firearms because he was convicted of the murders as a minor.

“This individual and his accomplice planned their crime.  They lured their victims outside with a false fire alarm, and then they slaughtered them.  And now, Mr. Johnson is an adult, and he can legally purchase a firearm,” said Michael Barnes, President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

“I hope this young man has changed, and that he is not a threat to others.  But this is a textbook case of an individual who should be deemed by society as forever barred from the privilege of owning a gun,” Barnes said. “The fact that he will be legally allowed to own one is an absolute embarrassment in our society.”

Oh shit.. I am becoming a liberal....  for ONCE in my life I agree with the Brady camp...

NOBODY that does a crime with a firearm should ever be allowed to own or handle a gun...  

If you kill someone, even if you are a teen, you should loose your right to have a gun...

We don't need people like this owning guns....

Punish the individuals that do things they shuldn't... not those of us that do nothing wrong!  Do I need to change my voter registration card now... am I banned from ARFCOM for thinking that the Brady Bunch is right?  Oh shit, I think I need a vacation!

Quoted: Oh shit.. I am becoming a liberal....  for ONCE in my life I agree with the Brady camp... NOBODY that does a crime with a firearm should ever be allowed to own or handle a gun...   If you kill someone, even if you are a teen, you should loose your right to have a gun... We don't need people like this owning guns.... Punish the individuals that do things they shuldn't... not those of us that do nothing wrong!  Do I need to change my voter registration card now... am I banned from ARFCOM for thinking that the Brady Bunch is right?  Oh shit, I think I need a vacation!

Agreed, but it still has the anti-gun spin to it. I don't see any condemnation that the kid is even allowed to walk free at all.

They say that "NOBODY that does a crime with a firearm should ever be allowed to own or handle a gun". I agree that certain violent felons or certain crimes should be a disqualifier, but their emphasis on "NOBODY" is pretty broad. That could mean anything from "improper storage",  "printing" to letting ones "permit to posess" expire (while still owning firearms).

Plus, in the usual Brady fashion, they refer to owning a firearm as a " privilege".

"The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness. For he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you."

well, the text you quoted wasn't them... it was me...

I simply feel that if someone takes a gun into a store and robs them... no gun rights
If someone rapes someone at gun point... no gun rights IF they ever get out

Now, there are other cases that would be different... shoot a protected bird while hunting would be insane to lose gun rights... I do mean violent crimes like in this case...

Quoted: well, the text you quoted wasn't them... it was me...

Oppps... my mistake.

but he did his time, found religion, and should be allowed to purchase firearms

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: People like this are the reasons we build prisons.....he should never be released. He will probably go out and kill someone again with a gun and then the million mom crowd will scream about how guns are the problem. http://www.bradycampaign.org/press/release.php?release=679 (link left cold) I guess they read your post. JONESBORO KILLER, LEAVING PRISON TOMORROW, WILL BE FREE TO BUY FIREARMS For Immediate Release: 08-10-2005 Contact Communications: (202) 898-0792 Memphis, TN – You kill five people in cold blood, shocking an entire nation.  You go to prison.  Seven years later, you get out, and you are free to buy all the guns you want. What a country. Mitchell Johnson, who as a 13-year-old on March 24, 1998 joined with 11-year-old Andrew Golden to plan and execute the attack at Jonesboro, Arkansas’ Westside Middle School that resulted in the death of four students and a teacher and the wounding of 10 others, pleaded guilty to murder.  Under Arkansas law, he could only be imprisoned until he turned 21, which is tomorrow, when he will leave a Memphis, Tennessee detention center.  Under Arkansas law, he is also not a prohibited purchaser of firearms because he was convicted of the murders as a minor. “This individual and his accomplice planned their crime.  They lured their victims outside with a false fire alarm, and then they slaughtered them.  And now, Mr. Johnson is an adult, and he can legally purchase a firearm,” said Michael Barnes, President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. “I hope this young man has changed, and that he is not a threat to others.  But this is a textbook case of an individual who should be deemed by society as forever barred from the privilege of owning a gun,” Barnes said. “The fact that he will be legally allowed to own one is an absolute embarrassment in our society.”

He served three years on a Federal weapons charge. He is now banned by federal law from owning a gun. Note how the Brady Bunch only talks about the Arkansas law.

ETA: On form 4473 you are asked: “Have you been convicted in any court of a felony, or any other crime, for which the judge could have imprisoned you for more than one year, even if you received a shorter sentence, including probation?”

the NIC is probably a good thing in the case of this whacko

all i can say here without violating the coc,  if my  kid was one of the vivtims, i would now be in jail

Quoted: all i can say here without violating the coc,  if my  kid was one of the vivtims, i would now be in jail

You are assuming a jury in Arkansas would convict you...

Eye for an eye, baby...

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: People like this are the reasons we build prisons.....he should never be released. He will probably go out and kill someone again with a gun and then the million mom crowd will scream about how guns are the problem. http://www.bradycampaign.org/press/release.php?release=679 (link left cold) I guess they read your post. JONESBORO KILLER, LEAVING PRISON TOMORROW, WILL BE FREE TO BUY FIREARMS For Immediate Release: 08-10-2005 Contact Communications: (202) 898-0792 Memphis, TN – You kill five people in cold blood, shocking an entire nation.  You go to prison.  Seven years later, you get out, and you are free to buy all the guns you want. What a country. Mitchell Johnson, who as a 13-year-old on March 24, 1998 joined with 11-year-old Andrew Golden to plan and execute the attack at Jonesboro, Arkansas’ Westside Middle School that resulted in the death of four students and a teacher and the wounding of 10 others, pleaded guilty to murder.  Under Arkansas law, he could only be imprisoned until he turned 21, which is tomorrow, when he will leave a Memphis, Tennessee detention center.  Under Arkansas law, he is also not a prohibited purchaser of firearms because he was convicted of the murders as a minor. “This individual and his accomplice planned their crime.  They lured their victims outside with a false fire alarm, and then they slaughtered them.  And now, Mr. Johnson is an adult, and he can legally purchase a firearm,” said Michael Barnes, President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. “I hope this young man has changed, and that he is not a threat to others.  But this is a textbook case of an individual who should be deemed by society as forever barred from the privilege of owning a gun,” Barnes said. “The fact that he will be legally allowed to own one is an absolute embarrassment in our society.” He served three years on a Federal weapons charge. He is now banned by federal law from owning a gun. Note how the Brady Bunch only talks about the Arkansas law. ETA: On form 4473 you are asked: “Have you been convicted in any court of a felony, or any other crime, for which the judge could have imprisoned you for more than one year, even if you received a shorter sentence, including probation?”

and isnt' the NICS mandated by the BRADY BILL???? Talk about BS...

damnit!

Quoted: all i can say here without violating the coc,  if my  kid was one of the vivtims, i would now be in jail

Only if you were caught, tried & convicted, sir.  

Quoted: In the early 50's or earlier he would have been lynched if he returned to the community where the crime happened.  But, he would have been executed for the crime, so lynching would not have been needed. People were a lot smarter back then.

I do say this would be an appropriate situation for a lynching.

tag

In before the he shoudl be able to own all the guns he want sbecause he is an upstanding citizen who served his time.

I am stunned. Surely the Governor or someone could get involved in this?

Quoted: Surely the Governor or someone could get involved in this?

And do what? Send him to "time out"??????