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[–] 2 points 2 years ago (4 children)

Are all these school shooters, attacking actual public schools, being charged with terrorism?

There's little need to up-charge school shooters. Many of them are killed on sight. Those that are captured (Dylan Roof, for instance) get life without parole or the death sentence.

But in NYC, a single murder without a terrorist motive only gets you to 2nd Degree Murder. That means you'll be out in 15 years. The "terrorism" addendum is necessary for life without parole sentencing.

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  • [–] 8 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    Yes, but the charges should fit the crime not be selected to ensure the desired outcome

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    There is no objective measure of criminal conduct. It's all malleable. Prosecutors and judges and juries ultimately make these decisions case-by-case. And the results can be heavily weighted by wealthy, socially influential private interests who want to see an example made of a particularly offensive or terrifying individual.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    There is no objective measure of criminal conduct

    I mean that's what the law is supposed to do, maybe it doesn't work like that in the US.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago

    "The Law" is a complex often contradictory abstract rubric that has to be applied to individual circumstances based on incomplete information by imperfect people. That's the whole reason we have both a prosecutor and defense, plus an (ostensibly) impartial judge to adjudicate procedure and a jury to determine guilt/innocence and sentence.

    If you could just put data into a computer and have it spit out perfect verdicts, the entire judicial system would be unnecessary.

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