Vote YES on this poll - Do you think authoraties over reacted to knife?

Shouldn't be charged with ANYTHING. At all. The principal and vice-principal should both be fired, and the prosecuting attorney should be publicly flogged.

Then we can talk about what to do with the legislators who passed these laws. That's where my reactions would start to get harsh.

I voted yes, looks like most voters think he was over charged, I can,t believe the stupidity of the prosecutor and the school officials.

How did those idiots get in any sort of leadership position??? Terrible.

The absence of common sense.

Why are so many people in the US soooo hysterical?

There seems to be an agreement to never do anything
in a balanced, common sense way - on either side of an argument.
Be it the antigunners, the pro-gunners, the Liberals or the teabaggers.

Every point is made in such an exaggerated manner ....

Then we can talk about what to do with the legislators who passed these laws. That's where my reactions would start to get harsh.

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Tar and feathers anyone?

I would expect a firefighter or policeman, or those in training, to have a knife. In my mind their lack of a knife would indicate a lack of preparedness and, therefore, possible incompetence. An EMT could probably get by without a knife only because of him having shears. A blade is simply a tool that is needed in those professions. That school should be making recommendations on what characteristics its students should look for in a knife.

I would expect a housewife, janitor, doctor, teacher, school kid, construction worker, lawyer, ...etc, etc.,, to have a knife. In my mind their lack of a knife would indicate a lack of preparedness and, therefore, possible incompetence.

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Really...it's just a knife. A tool every one of us uses at least once a day. What are we THINKING?

I see a Fourth Amendment case approaching rapidly...

Just voted, it's 95% yes (overcharged).

Coming from a media outlet with a rather liberal bent and audience, that's a good sign.

Lets see....... no search warrant in the first place and the kid is already authorized by his current certifications and the blade length is to short for it to be a conceiled weapon......I smell a big pile of money comeing to this kid from the school and the local idiots that put him in jail with non admissable evidence.

The SAME exact thing happened to me in High School. Truck searched and BROKEN knife found. My father took responsibility for it (he didn't have to), saying we used it to install my new stereo deck. The lock was broken and the knife could not be opened, the arresting officer still couldn't do it with pilers.

I didn't get a felony, but I was charged. Community service, suspension, probation, fines and all. There was also something added that since the arrest happened a few weeks before my birthday I was charged as a minor but if I broke probation I would he sent to big boy jail. A term of probation was maintaining school standards. Meaning if I screwed up in school at all I could be sent to jail. Over 12 years ago this was and I still get red thinking about it.

Stalin called. He wants his prosecutor back in the 1940s.


I hope something happens to that man and the EMTs stand by and watch him suffer.

That is way over the top by the Law.

Sam1911 said:

Shouldn't be charged with ANYTHING. At all. The principal and vice-principal should both be fired, and the prosecuting attorney should be publicly flogged.

Then we can talk about what to do with the legislators who passed these laws. That's where my reactions would start to get harsh.

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As a Public School Employee I agree and I tell kids if your out working before school and forget you brought it to school bring it to me.

Sam1911 said:

Really...it's just a knife. A tool every one of us uses at least once a day. What are we THINKING?

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The Blaze link to the same story

Specht said he’s aware “there’s a load of people out here that just think we’re the devil because we’re allegedly ruining this young kid’s life,” but he insisted that’s not the case and that the felony charge is justified and there are no plans to reduce the charge.

“There are all these school occurrences where people are shot, people are killed by other students,” Specht said. “We see it every day … so we don’t take these things lightly. … We have to be sure that we don’t have a potential for something like that to happen here.”

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THat's what he's thinking. That the school shootings that happen every day (every day, mind you) do not happen when kids take guns into schools and start shooting, they happen when students lock knives in their cars.


I've heard some theories about Sandy Hook, that the gun used wasn't the AR15, so on and whatnot, but this is the first time I've heard the idea that he used a pocketknife locked in his car. Wonder what evidence this guy has....:banghead:

Wiser said the conditions of his bond also prohibit him from having any contact with his grandfather, who is dying from cancer.

"The one judge I went in front of told me to remove any firearms from my parents' house and put them at my grandpa's house," Wiser said. "The next judge freaked out about me even knowing what a gun is and put a no contact order against me and my grandparents. My grandfather is dying right now, and I am not allowed within 500 feet of him."

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The fact that any judge has this kind of authority is absolutely reprehensible. The only time a no contact order should be legal should be when a victim of a crime requests it.

Now now, we all know the rules about schools:

Zero tolerance steps in, common sense and reason exit stage left.

As the story is told, yes it was an over reaction. The problem is that we are only hearing one side of the story. As a retired teacher I've been involved in dozens of situations like this. The kids, their parents and lawyers can say anything they wish to the media and on the internet. The schools and LE are not legally able to state any facts publicly.

I have NEVER seen a situation where a truly innocent kid was ever given more than a slap on the wrist. These things happen hundreds of times every day in this country. 99.99% of them are handled discretely with no one other than the kids, their parents, LE and school officials ever being aware of it. I've never known of a case where LE decided to prosecute that the kid didn't deserve what he got. In every case I'm aware of where parents made the case public there were an awful lot of facts that the parents neglect to comment about to the media.

Schools always turn these incidents over to LE to investigate. If LE determine no intent of a crime was there they don't prosecute and hand it back over to the schools. The kids are not allowed back in school for 2-3 days while LE investigate. If LE does decide to prosecute it is no longer a school matter. If it is determined it was a simple mistake the 2-3 days out of school during the investigation is usually about it and that is the end of it.

jmr, There are plenty of cases where prosecutors tried to ruin kids lives for mistakes like this and only backed off because of public pressure. There's nothing to indicate this kid deserved any of the treatment he's getting.

hso said:

The prohibition is because of the guns he took to his grandfather's and has nothing to do with the grandfather himself. If the guns went to an uncles or a LGS the same restriction would be applied.

WE need to be bombarding the elected officials responsible for the LE and School with requests for reason to be applied to this case.

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I understand that. It still doesn't make it right.

Well, I voted "yes" based on the way the story is written.

But I'd sure like to see what actually comes out in court once both sides start speaking.

Of note in this particular article is "The principal said he had reason to believe I had weapons in my vehicle and needed to search it".

Well that's the dumbest most infuriating thing I've heard all day.

I reserve judgment, here, as well. The fluff-to-fact ratio in this story is too high. I don't care if the kid was training to be a police officer, or a firefighter (what firefighter training exists for 14-yr-olds, anyway?) or a circus clown. That doesn't matter.

The only two things that matters is 1) Was the search legal? How and why school admin decided that his car needed to be searched. According to the story, someone tipped the administration off to an alarming youtube video. and 2) was the knife illegal? It is referred to (by the kid) as being 4". In many places in OH, it would be illegal to have such a knife accessible in your vehicle.

1) I skimmed the kid's youtube videos for anything alarming, and I didn't find anything. Admittedly, I just browsed the video titles, only. I'm not THAT interested. And I'm sure he removed anything that could be controversial, anyway. And does the admin perhaps have authority to search his vehicle, regardless of a reasonable suspicion? This is what lawyers are for, I guess.

2) legality of said knife:
There are limits on the length of a concealed folding knife in OH. In some places it is 4". In some places it is 2.5" He said his knife is 4", which could mean 4.1", therefore illegal. Since he's not only being kicked out of school, but facing criminal charges, it seems to follow that his knife was not only breaking school rules, but it was illegal, altogether.

He mentions other kids being suspended for knives. I wonder if those kids were observing local law, at least, if not school policy. Maybe they were caught with folding knives that were under the legal limit for that area. Perhaps this is a case where a fraction of an inch made the difference?

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< Deleted > I was quite the opposite. All I am saying is that I wouldn't press for an EXCEPTION to the law for this one person, just because he wants to be a firefighter or w/e. If he broke the law, and if the evidence was obtained legally, then it's the law that's messed up. Not the application of said law.

So do I think authorities overreacted? Maybe, but look. You are the police. You are called and given evidence of a possible felony. The law is somewhat grey, but then the suspect ADMITS he has committed a felony. Slam dunk. What else is the prosecutor gonna do with a slam dunk? See, if you look at the gun/knife forums, you will get plenty of good advice for that situation. What he was apparently supposed to do is to say that he is going fishing after school, and suddenly he's legal. Cuz apparently hunting and fishing are two legitimate reasons for carrying a >4" knife in OH. What he did was to admit he carries that around all the time.... because he is training to be a firefighter, and it's for cutting seatbelts. Apparently, the possibility of needing to cut a seatbelt is NOT a sufficient justification for carrying a >4" knife in OH - even if you are in firefighter training.

Yeah, I see the irony. I agree the law is dumb. But - and sorry for the kid, here - if stupid laws are ever going to change, authorities shouldn't be allowed to make on-the-spot judgment calls and exceptions based on limited and mostly superficial information (and innate prejudices). "Ok, in this case a 5" knife is fine. But in this case, it's not." That would be the worst case, and in many states that's pretty much where things are right now.