FLORIDA TO UP DEATH TOLL AT BROWARD SCHOOL SHOOTING

FLORIDA GOES FOR DEATH PENALTY FOR CRUZE—A MISTAKE

The Broward County, Florida prosecutor has revealed today  that he will go for the death penalty in the trial of killer Nicholas Cruze who shot and killed 17 youngsters and adults at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Valentine’s Day last month.

After all the missteps of the state and county officials in regard to this individual, this announcement seems to suggest that these officials want to make the disaster many of them are complicit in complete by burying the evidence.  

Cruze deserves no sympathy...but neither does the state, county and school officials who seem to have stumbled at every opportunity to avert a disaster and instead at each juncture they, instead, swept the problem of a disturbed and dangerous teenage under the rug.   Does it make any sense at all now to add to these errors by making it 18 kills?  

The county Sheriff’s office   and police departments made more than thirty visits in response to calls at the home where Cruze was living—and did nothing, His school teachers, advisors, school psychologist,  and the school principal  were all well aware that this person was a danger to himself and others and was a problem student.  These adults in positions of authority ignored all the signs and  and simply expelled Cruze and banned him from school grounds.  Even the FBI ignored several calls tipping them off to a possible violent shooter. At every turn this person was ignored and pushed aside by the adults in his life.  Now they want to execute him. 

What will the expensive and painful death of another kid prove?  

That the state and officials in Florida and in Broward County are not only ineffective and prone to error...but vengeful as well?

Those who favor the death penalty for Cruze should forget the expensive and waste of effort to put  Cruze to death, and  work instead for more effective procedures to identify problem students and more quickly remove them from circumstances in which they might harm themselves and others. 

Suppose young Cruze’s school psychologist, his principal or one of the many other adults in  authority in Cruze’s ;life—all who were presented with so many opportunities to identify a dangerous situation developing—-suppose just one of them actually  did something positive about this problem youngster?  Today,  Cruze might be serving time in a school for psychologically troubled youngsters and his seventeen victims might still be alive and well with their families.  There is a lot of blame to go around here.