How the Truth Changes One's Opinion
March 29, 2006
Last week the Lincoln, Nebraska Journal-Star covered a story with a outrageous outcome: A college kid who wasn't even at his apartment was sentenced to 30 days in jail when his roomates threw a party. Obviously, this was yet another example of conservative judicial activism. The truth, uncovered by Orin Kerr here, was a little more interesting than the media story's fiction.
The "hapless" college student has had six run ins with law in less than two years. Two of those previous run-ins included the offense for which the college kid was sentenced. (Yes, when he was sentenced, it was for his third offense for throwing loud parties.) So while I might not think 30 days is a "fair" punishment, I at least don't find it outrageous. If you tease a lion often enough, you'll eventually get bitten. Here, the college student wasn't a kid who fell into the lion's cage at the zoo: he was a smug little brat who poked the lion with the stick. He's lucky he wasn't bitten earlier.