Signs and Symptoms of Becoming a Banana Republic

In Comal County, Texas, there’s a teenager who’s been in jail for almost four months because his family can’t come up with half a million dollars bail money.  His crime?  He made a “terroristic threat” on Facebook while joking around with a friend.

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Apparently, someone in Canada saw his “threat” and reported him, so now he’s facing a felony conviction that carries an 8-year prison sentence.  He’s not the first 19-year old to make a tasteless joke – this one was in response to his friend telling him he was crazy, to which he replied:

“I’m f***ed in the head alright. I think I’ma (sic) shoot up a kindergarten and watch the blood of the innocent rain down and eat the beating heart of one of them.”

He followed this immediately with “lol j/k.”, making it quite clear (even for the terminally concrete) that this was not a serious suggestion.
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However, in our “zero tolerance” nation, this all-too-typical male teen is in jail, where he’s been beaten up several times and is now on suicide watch, meaning he’s being kept naked in solitary confinement.
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The plight of Justin Carter isn’t what points at the U.S. becoming a banana republic. That judgment is based on what appears to be the oncoming loss of the rule of law in our country.  When similar actions are treated differently under the law, and the difference appears to be based on WHO the actors are, then we’ve departed from the ideals under which this nation was set up.
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Consider Officer Christopher Picciano, a member of the President’s elite presidential motorcade detail.
Picciano got into trouble in July 2012 while eating breakfast with a group of officers in a downtown restaurant. They were talking about the first lady’s threat level, and one officer explained that it was high because “a lot of people want to kill her.” Another officer then testified that Picciano said, “Yeah, because I want to kill her” and then showed that officer a picture of a handgun on his phone.
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This was reported, which is certainly appropriate.  During the investigation, Officer Picciano’s Facebook and LinkedIn accounts were found to include:
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…troubling though unrelated postings on the officer’s LinkedIn and Facebook accounts. Those included a communist emblem — a hammer and sickle — superimposed over a campaign poster of President Obama and Picciano’s self-described job description as “zoo keeper of the MPD.” Angry with the D.C. Council over a vote to curtail pension benefits, Picciano wrote on Facebook about taking a rifle to a tall building.
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The review board that looked at the allegations decided to exonerate the officer       “of all allegations that he made threats against the first lady…(because) He has maintained from the beginning that it was an off-the-cuff remark, a joke.”
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That’s probably the right outcome, of course…..but can someone please explain what consistent and predictable standard of judgment  in these matters puts a teenager in the general jail population, but refuses even to fire a police officer who expresses specific threats of violence?  Is it because the teenager lives in Texas, while the officer is in Washington, D.C.?
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Reason.com has perhaps the best explanation.”It’s possible that Carter made that joke in the wrong state, but I think in this case, and others like it, power matters far more than geography.”  And THAT is what makes this banana republic stuff!!