Navy Shooter and George Zimmerman had how many incidents with charges dropped?

[NightWatcher]

So I hear this morning that the Navy Shooter shot out a guy's tires in a blackout fit of rage, but charges were dropped. He had 8 issues of misconduct but was given an Honorable Discharge. He shot a round through his ceiling at home, but no charges were filed. Zimmerman beat his ex-fiance, but no charges were filed. Zimmy punched his wife's dad in the nose and smashed their ipad, but no charges filed.....

File some damn charges against these criminals and let them stick. Had either one of them had a joint in their pocket, not only would charges be filed, but they'd still be doing the time for a a lonely marijuana cig.

Patterns predict behavior.

[brush]

1. You're absolutely right

The navy shooter should have been locked up over the tire incident that happened way before the navy yard killings.

But to zimmerman, charges were not filed against him or dropped in several incidents before he killed TM. But in this latest incident the punching of his wife's father is not on tape grabbing and destroying his wife's iPad sure is. That's got to be at least two chargeable crimes right there but the cops do nothing but take the iPad to try to get evidence. If we saw the tape of him grapping and destroying the device THAT'S EVIDENCE!

What is up with those cops. Is cop down there trying to protect zimmerman?

[shenmue]

2. But guns!!!1!

Are perfectly safe for everyone!

[cthulu2016]

3. The solution is probably not imprisoning more people

Do you recognize that you are not just talking about two people, but rather millions of people?

Since we already have the highest incarceration rate it is not obvious that convicting more people of crimes is going to fix things.

[NightWatcher]

5. in lieu of locking up, make the Navy guy inelligible for a security clearance

and make Zimmy unfit for a gun permit.

Tada, two problems would never have happened.

Let some of the people in prison on marijuana possession go free instead of serving mandatory minimums

[cthulu2016]

7. Is the idea that he should have shot people at the mall instead?

The man's security clearance did not allow him to kill 12 people.

It allowed him to kill 12 people in a particular office complex, versus some other office complex, shopping center, park, etc..

[former9thward]

4. There are no resources to do what you suggest.

I have been on both sides. First as a prosecutor out of law school and now doing criminal defense. There just is not enough courts, prisons, prosecutors, etc. to charge everybody with everything. There never will be.. A prosecutor must use their judgment given all the circumstances deciding what to prosecute. And it is 20/20 hindsight to say what should have been charged. Many of these crimes are very difficult to prove when there are no cooperating witnesses or no witnesses at all.

I know of no jurisdiction where a marijuana cig would get you jail time. In my city cops normally toss it in the street.

[alc]

6. let's build more prisons

I'd guess well over a million people have had similar charges dropped and lord knows how many people only had to serve a few years for those charges and are back on the street ready to die while they kill twelve other people. If we take their guns they may just buy some pressure cookers and kill people that way so we need to lock them up to be safe.

Our court and penal systems need lots of work, along with our gun laws and mental health systems. But we need to look at things practically. The navy shoot and Zimmerman probably are NOT similar cases where one solution will work for both (I am assuming the shooter didn't mind dying or even wanted to which is very different from someone who wants to kill others AND live himself). And both of them have much in common with lots of other people who will not be a threat to society. We don't want a solution that "takes care of" the shooter and Zimmerman but also affects millions of people who are not threats to society. We need many fixes, not a one-size-fixes-all solution.

[hfojvt]

8. so the pattern of Zimmerman smashing an ipad

predicted his behaviour of shooting Trayvon?

Next thing you will be telling me that dispatch told him to stay in his car, but he got out anyway.

Uff-da.

[malaise]

9. Great post

K & R