posted May 17, 2009 01:05 PM by
Zyto95487All across America, universities and colleges are having their graduations and commencements this weekend. This is a time of celebration and new beginnings for former students, people who are now charged with finding a job in a bleak economy. For many of these people, it is the result of choosing to embark on a journey to get a degree in a field they enjoy, and start on a career they will find fulfilling. But, for one graduate this weekend, it is the result of a court order.
In 2007, at a Halloween party thrown at an Atlanta club, two Morehouse College students had an altercation outside after one of them was thrown out of the club for unruly behavior. The altercation became violent when one of the students, Joshua Brandon Norris, pulled out a gun. The other student, Rashad Johnson, struggled with Norris and the gun went off, hitting Johnson in the leg multiple times. During a plea hearing, Norris plead no contest to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. As part of the agreement, a second charge of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony was dropped, sparing Norris over 20 years in prision. And his sentence? The prosecutor had originally offered a prison term as part of the offer, but apparently had a change of heart. During the sentencing, he instead recommended probation and community service. The judge trusted him, and sentenced Norris to 6 years probation, a $1,000 fine and 240 hours of community service. The strange part of the sentence? The judge also ordered that he remain in college and get his degree.
To me, this seems a bit strange. You shoot a fellow student, take away his chance to ever live a normal life again, and what do you get? A slap on the wrist and a college degree. Johnson will never return to Morehouse College, a school where 3 generations of his family went, all because of a senseless act of violence by another student, and that student gets to finish his time at a prestigeous institute and start a new life for himself. Granted, it will now be on his record that he shot someone, but he still gets that degree that only 27% of the population has in this country. That's saying something about the state of the criminal justice system and the priorities and respect we show the victims of violent crimes, and how we value the rights of the offender over all.
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I am sure that the judge probably did what he thought was right, and hopefully the kid learned his lesson.