USMCFLYR

[QUOTE=cardiomd;1603683]I'm not trying to make you look stupid in the least.

Your posts on this subject have repeatedly led me to believe that you think this person got a 14 year sentence SOLEY for pointing a laser at an aircraft ONE TIME. You then propose the judge be fired. Was this a judge only trial or was there a jury? So you KNOW for a fact that this judge is an activist and trying to make a name for himself. You make a lot of assumptions in this case. You state that some of these sentences (which ones are we talking about? The many minor drug cases?) are absurd; so therefore, once again, your posts makes me think that your issue with the legal system is much larger than just this case. You seem to have a problem with some of the mandatory sentencing guidelines.

What type of litigator is the Mrs exactly that she sees so much of this "needless results of errant policy"?

cardiomd

Using straw man exaggeration is generally to try to make opponent look stupid, as is making unlikely maximally favorable assumptions despite what is reported. Another common technique is to make this "about" your opponent, instead of the issue at hand.

Good day! Keep those sunglasses on.

USMCFLYR

Neither of which I have done - so your defensiveness must be coming from somewhere else.
You have also provided nothing to dissuade me from my belief that you think the sentence was a result of the one infraction - which thanks to some digging by another APC member of records we now know was not true at all.
Maybe you'll have the Mrs. looking up the sentencing guidelines for the charges against this person.

Once again - I'm sorry you have a problem with the legal system. I do too often. This doesn't seem to be one of those instances in my opinion. Sounds to me like he got what he deserved.

N9373M

FBI hunts for jerk who blinded Delta pilot with laser | New York Post

RhinoPherret

Does anyone really think that the idiots that try to aim laser beams at aircraft to harm pilots do not try to do other harmful things with other objects in their daily useless lives?

Say maybe like; use their automobiles, guns, homemade explosive devices, and anything else they can dream up to use as a weapon to harm someone to get their twisted cheap thrills.

There are established patterns that apply to many of these creeps that do these kinds of things. The laser beam is just one tool of choice that they use in their desire to harm others.

I feel very harsh punishments of long jail/prison time are much warranted! These useless individuals need to be off the streets for as long as possible before they harm others with whatever other twisted ways they can dream up besides using the laser beams.

cencal83406

It's because people think it's a joke or a game to play.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymFhtmPxu-k

etc. etc.

cardiomd

Nope, I agree individuals that shine lasers at planes probably are not the clearest-thinking bunch. But I'm pretty sure it is a diverse group of offenders.

So do a lot of people. As a young person I spent while in a country that had Sharia law when my father was on assignment, and the opinions of "useless individuals" and calls for "very harsh punishments" was eerily similar to what some rally for here. There was still crime. Actually much more than here.

I cringe when I hear the same calls in this country for "cruel and unusual" punishments. It is agains the country's founding ideals. Just like the Taliban you can cut off people's hands if they steal and there will still be crime. And a lot of people without hands. Rest assured if you lock this guy up for 15 years it will cost society much more in the end. He's not going to be a better person emerging in 15 years with no job or experience.

I'd again bet that this is a lot of chest-thumping by keyboard warriors. I can't wait until laser pointers are banned or an astronomy geek is arrested.

I'm not against punishment, but if you read the transcript the judge was clearly annoyed that the guy was a poor field worker and decided to give an extreme punishment. Ultimately, nobody was harmed by the incident.

I agree, which is why the money is better spent by an education campaign to reduce accomplices of the idiots and encourage awareness and get people to turn others in. It is annoying but I have yet to hear of any serious aircraft incident due to laser strike.

N9373M

What is your source for the sentencing transcript? The sentencing was held on 3/10/14 and it will several months before it's publicly available online via official channels. (PACER)

It would be available if you went to the courthouse, but it's not even been docketed yet.

I have some difficulty with your statement, "the judge was clearly annoyed that the guy was a poor field worked and decided to given an extreme punishment".

RhinoPherret

Easy to spout how righteous we are about rights and treating people differently based on our perceived notions and biases of how we think a person should be held accountable. However, in my many experiences in law enforcement, guess who hollers the loudest when a crime is committed against their person? Yep, the very same folks that scream for leniency for others that commit criminal acts. Examples: I have seen the most ardent defense attorney(s) act like fools demanding this and that action be taken by the police when they are the victim of a crime. Yet these same people are so publicly outspoken for individuals that committed these types of crimes and how unfair the system treats them. They are full of themselves and are typical hypocrites. This is just an example of so many hypocritical people I have encountered that sing a different song when a crime happens TO THEM.

The bottom line is: when a crime occurs against you personally, it is a whole other ball game as they say. You throw all that hot air about unfair treatment of criminals out the window and you want revenge because it happened to you and you have been violated personally. I have seen this occur so many times through the years. How do you think you would feel if you were injured in some manner by a goofball aiming a laser at you, regardless of your sense of values and how you view the legal system treating folks? Just because someone might not be seriously injured in an incident, what about the next one and the one after, and the one that does ultimately cause serious harm to one or multiple people?

If you are going to play the game (perform criminal acts) there are game rules and punishments. If you don’t want to possibly be treated unfairly in the legal system, how about not committing criminal acts in the first place? Nothing is totally fair in life including our legal system to be sure. Avoid it by not doing dumb arse things and committing crimes and maybe life is a little better for you, no?

glauzm

All I know is that if anybody is finally caught for hitting an airplane with a laser, they deserve what they get. I have been hit twice at KFXE in the last few months, and seeing spots/temporary blindness on short final or as you enter the pattern to land is not something you want to be dealing with at all.