Frontpage on NYTimes.com this morning is a troubling story of a Maine teen tried and convicted in federal court, now doing time in a federal prison more than 500 miles from his family. His crime? Torching a boatyard. But not just any boatyard. This one housed the engine of the Bush family yacht. Poppa Bush, that is, the [seasonal] King of Kennebunkport.
The story is troubling on many levels. The boy, just 14 when the arson crime occurred, was ready to plead guilty in state court. He is now one of only two juveniles in all of New England serving time in federal prison, housed in a facility where most of his peers are mentally ill or developmentally challenged.
While arson is a serious crime, this instance was no different from hundreds of others which occur in Maine and around the country every year. In fact, at the same time the youth was attempting to plea bargain, a resident of a neighboring town was on trial for burning his restaurant down.
What is particularly disconcerting about these events is that while the "powers that be" deemed the case to be of the most serious import, none of the events were even covered in the local press. A search of both the Portland Press Herald and Boston Globe archives didn't even turn up a mention of the fire at the boatyard, let alone the conviction of the boy or his nineteen year-old accomplice (ironically charged in state court.) How is it that the younger boy is such a threat to society that he joined only a few hundred other juveniles incarcerated in federal prisons, yet the crime itself wasn't even deemed "news" by the local press. I live only thirty minutes from Kennebunkport (home of my ancestral tribal village) and I never heard of the boatyard fire until I read it in the Times.
It's been speculated that G.W. Bush invaded Iraq in part because of Hussein's purported assassination attempt on his father. It's certainly clear he's not the only one in the family willing to use the resources at his disposal for petty vengeance.
Posted by MB Williams at December 23, 2003 06:43 AM | TrackBackAny idea on how much time the boy is serving and how it compares to normal sentences for arson?
Posted by: Daniel at December 23, 2003 01:27 PMPlaying devil's advocate, a case can be made that the torching was an attempt of sorts to harm a former President, which of course would carry with it a more severe penalty than attempting harm on someone considered less important by federal standards. But it is weird that it's not in the local papers...
Posted by: Elayne Riggs at December 23, 2003 04:51 PMAccording to the Times, the arson occurred after the teens, attempting to steal a radio, noticed survellience cameras, and tried to cover up their petty crime. They had no idea Bush's boat engine was there.
As far as the length of sentence - it was the first offense for the teen, an A student and otherwise model kid. Any other crime would most likely involve probation, not incarceration until majority.
Posted by: MB at December 23, 2003 06:51 PMKinda gives far deeper meaning to Bush's 'No Child Left Behind'
Posted by: Joe at December 29, 2003 03:59 PMThe sentence was 30 months federal detention followed by 27 months of supervised release. The Juvenile Delinguency Act mandates that juveniles be rehabilitated rather than imprisioned, and those imprisioned be place in community based treatment centers in or near their home communities. This juvenile is in a maximum security facility almost 600 miles from his home. He is allowed a five minute phone call with his family each week and a one hour visit - provided they travel the 600 miles to get there each week. The Justice Department was swift to punish the juvenile for breaking the law, but seems to have no concern that the Bureau of Prisons breaks the law every day they hold the juvenile in violation of the Juvenile Delinquency Act. Why?
Experts who have work in the juvenile justice field for decades are not familiar with any other similiar juvenile case being handled this way anytime, any where in the country.
Posted by: AliiAlia at December 30, 2003 12:13 PM