Texas Justice: 17-Year-Old Boy Gets Eight Years in Prison for Phone Threat

Terrance Taylor of Tyler, Texas is a seventeen-year-old boy who did a stupid thing. In a prank, he called his rival high school and said that he was going to come over an open fire on the students. The adults then did an equally stupid thing: the sentenced him to eight years in prison for the prank rather than giving him probation. It is an example of prosecutors and judges have lost any sense of proportion or logic in sentencing.

There is no question that it was appropriate to treat the incident as a criminal matter and that Taylor should have been severely punished with a criminal conviction (no small burden for kid today). Taylor, moreover, correctly accepted responsibility and pleaded guilty to making a “terroristic threat.” His attorney Don Davidson (it appears that everyone has alliteration in their names in Tyler, Texas) expected probation. He insists that another kid prompted him to call and that it was a spur of the moment thing.

That seems pretty believable since he had no known guns, plans, or intent to carry out the threat. It was a stupid teenager act that results in a stupid adult reaction. For the full story, click here.