A groundbreaking case in Michigan is nearing a close as the parents of a Michigan school shooter face sentencing Tuesday in suburban Detroit.

The parents of a Michigan school shooter are asking a judge to keep them out of prison as they face sentencing for their role in an attack that killed four students in 2021.

Jennifer and James Crumbley are scheduled to appear in court Tuesday for the close of a pioneering case: They are the first parents convicted in a U.S. mass school shooting.

The Crumbleys did not know their son, Ethan Crumbley, was planning the shooting at Oxford High School. But prosecutors said the parents failed to safely store a gun and could have prevented the shooting by removing the 15-year-old from school when confronted with his dark drawing that day.

Prosecutors are seeking at least 10 years in prison for involuntary manslaughter.

  • zaph@sh.itjust.works
    0·
    7 months ago

    Personally I’m not a big fan of children being tried as adults in general but that’s not really relevant I just don’t want it to seem like I’m defending that. Being tried as an adult doesn’t mean “this child has the mental capacity of an adult and should be treated as such,” it’s about the crimes he committed. If he was emancipated I could see your argument being a defense for the parents but he wasn’t.

    • ShepherdPie@midwest.social
      0·
      7 months ago

      Why would the crime committed have any bearing on whether the defendant should be tried as a minor or adult? If that were the case, the opposite should be possible too, like an adult that commits a crime so dumb or so poorly that they should be tried as a juvenile.

      The distinction is (or should be) about the mental capacity of the perpetrator. Prosecutors just love to do it so they appear to be “tough on crime” for the next election.

      • zaph@sh.itjust.works
        0·
        7 months ago

        Why would the crime committed have any bearing on whether the defendant should be tried as a minor or adult?

        Because our legal system is set up to stroke justice boners and not to rehabilitate criminals.

        If that were the case, the opposite should be possible too, like an adult that commits a crime so dumb or so poorly that they should be tried as a juvenile.

        That’d be an insanity plea.

        The distinction is (or should be) about the mental capacity of the perpetrator. Prosecutors just love to do it so they appear to be “tough on crime” for the next election.

        I wholeheartedly agree.