14 y/o arrested for saying 'meow'

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http://www.wpxi.com/news/9725203/detail.html

Not only does the guy lose his pet because of this hag, but now he is charged with tormenting her!

Even more amusing is the title of this news-story:

 

Only in America

What's next? Woof, Peep, Roar, Ia

You know a lot of animals will get sued for all their food

 

pathetic

 

I think it's not because he annoyed her but because it's viewed as a form of harassment. But fact is she's an old hag who probably gets off making other people as miserable as her. I fail to see whats so bad about a cat using a garden as a litter box anyway, they cover their poop after they're done and it can only be good for the soil.

 

I don't know where you get that idea from, but i don't agree with it. I used to have a flowergarden that was regularly used by cats to poo in, and first of all...not ALL cats are nice and neat and cover their poo, and secondly...catpoo stinks really really bad. I don't know what they put in catfood, but their droppings smell worse than anything i ever smelled before.

 

I have two cats myself and live in a neighborhood full of cats (at least one a house). Never had any problem with where they poop or their poop at all. I guess having your garden as the communal cat restroom can't be nice but this is just ONE cat and cats don't **** that often.

 

• Old bitch makes family get rid of cat.

• Child makes cat noises

• Old bitch claims harrassment!

• Child is arrested!

Where is the justice in that?

 

Didn't some kid get expelled from his school or something for running around shooting people with imaginary guns?
If that's the case, this kid's going away for a LONG time.

 

I heard that US has the biggest number of jailed inmates in the world. Hope they all aren't 14-year old kids and hope the family doesn't go bankcrupt due of the court-expenses...

 

Those cats do terrible things in gardens. They enter my grandmother's garden, break flowers, overturn the flowerpots while fighting or making ... other things.

Though she wouldn't sue people for such stupid things. I think in America old people are too lonely. Actually everyone is lonely (comparing to my country). I think that's the problem of western people.

 

Yup, it's called Individualism and it's a part of Americanisation that my country is suffering from. (No offense ment to the Americans)

The best way to prevent catpoo in your garden, is to get a cat yourself. We never found any until our cat died.

 

Or get a dog, we don't suffer either.

 

Bah, I'm tired of all the bull**** things in this country. I'm a Criminal Justice major, God I hope I don't have to put up with crap like this...ever.

 

That's some hard-baked criminal material we have here! I must say that I've never, ever seen a crime this horrible! Who in his right mind would meow at someone who made them lose their cat!? And not only once, twice even! This calls for nothing less than electrocution and the boy's name to be forever forgotten!! Never mind armed robberies, we've got a meowing boy here!
Better grab the heavy gear, this action is going to be wild! : :

Seriously, what is wrong with some people? So the old woman makes them give their cat away, and the boy meows her... And what's wrong with those police who actually took this seriously.
I mean, I wouldn't find it that bad if he really did meow at her all the time. Where I'm living, little children give me the finger every time I walk past their house. And I don't care.

 

Guys, guys, cool down a bit. How do you all know she's an old hag making trouble and harassing that family?

Is it at all not possible that the boy actually does meow at her every time he sees her? She says:

"As I walk by, I see Michael and his mother. He got on the porch and hid behind the bamboo screen and starts meowing. If I don't make this stop now, they're going to keep doing this to me. I shouldn't have to worry about walking out of the house and being harassed by this young kid."

And if that's true, and she deserves protection, then she indeed has a point. You may have the right to meow in your garden or whatever, but there's no such thing as a right to meow when you see your neighbour. It doesn't matter if it's obscenities or if it's meowwing: harassment is harassment and harasser know what kind of taunts to use. If he knows it bothers her and he keeps doing that, then it doesn't matter at all if he's calling her an old hag, shouting obscenities or just meowwing. People have every right not to be harassed. It's the cops' duty to investigate and the court's to verify the claim and make justice.

Of course, if we go into a harassment case, we could as well sue the woman for inflicting emotional distress and in a way also harassing the cat-owning family, so it can be a double-edged sword for all those people who love being bothered by stuff, making fuss about it and involving the cops and courts later.

I just think in any such neighbourhood cases, there should be some trace of trying to solve the matter amicably, perhaps by way of mediation by another neighbour or someone from the social services or whatever, before allowing a case in the court. Preferably also a note or two from police interventions if it's a criminal complaint. In petty cases involving children, people should be required to show some correspondence with the child's parent(s) to prove they were trying to deal with a real problem and not just looking for some court fun. Where I leave, companies are required to attempt negotiations outside the court before suing another company. The same could be applied to neighbours suing each other, harassment cases, property infringement and all such things that are likely to be psychotic raving. Being forced to reimburse the defendant for defence expenses, including even petrol for getting to the court room, should teach frivolous plaintiffs a lesson. At least where I leave it's possible.

[ August 24, 2006, 20:00: Message edited by: chevalier ]

 

I'd feel more harassed if teenagers next door kept using the f word at the end of every sentence.

 

The old woman is in a very sad situation. The cost and complexity of the law prevents her any real chance of making her nieghbours respect her rights and let her live in peace. In all likelyhood she will have to sell her home and move.

Calling her names is really clever. Victimising the victim is what it is called. A bit like saying a rape victim deserved to be raped because they dressed the way they did.

It is the police's duty to sort out cases of harrasment. If they don't want to do it, too bad for them. Most shoplifting crime is commited by people under the age of 16, so its not as if they don't know that they are really just armed nannys.

What the lady is doing is harrasing the kids family in return, using the courts and the police. More power to her. She should pour on as much heat as she can muster no matter how petty or absurd the reasoning behind it seems to be.

Even if she succeeds in controlling her neighbours aggression using the fear of a disproportionate response, it will be a hollow victory. No one wants to live with nieghbours that share a mutual hatred, especially ones who have coached a child into doing their dirty work.

To those who believed or supported the kids "I was only story...", I am shocked. Either you have never met a bully in your life, or you are a bully.

 

Oh come on - If he was going up in her face and meowing at her, or ringing her doorbell and meowing at her when she opened it - that's harassment. Meowing while sitting on your porch in your own damn yard hardly constitutes harassment. Would it be harassment if he played music on his porch at a normal volume? I doubt he's screaming "MEOW" at her. I can't possibly see how saying meow on your porch is criminal. Especially considering there is a screen on the porch that blocks the view of the elderly woman - how can she even know it's being directly specifically at her? I guess my point is, if this is harassment, then there's a hell of a lot of other stuff that people do every day without a second thought that would qualify as harassment as well. It's a waste of resources of the police and the courts.

Or you have common sense would be another option. The boy's actions may not be very nice, and may even border on rude, but it's not a crime to not show deference to your elders.

 

So you believe the kid.

And you believe that saying meow twice to someone is enough to make them (age 78) bring a harassment case.

And you don't see the mother's statement:

as being indicative of

1. pre-existing harassment (for 3 years),
2. the mother's approval of the child's hate feuled low level aggressive behaviour (and thus the mother's own expression of hate)
3. the mother's knowledge that the child was causing upset for which the old lady had no legal recourse.

And you didn't get the bit where I said that the response should be disproportionate to deter the offenders.

As to the police, a lot of people say that there is nothing they can do, so they should do nothing. This is rubbish. The police should turn up at the harassors door after each and every report of harassment. Even if they ascertain each time that no prosecutable harassment can be proven, the prospect of having to deal with a harassed policeman should be enough to make the person doing the harassment think twice.

The original news piece posted here is undoctored, unlike the the hostile version posted above.

One glaring ommision is;

A victim's common sense is a bully's greatest asset. It stops the victim from lashing out. Not only is this little old lady lashing out, but she is doing it legally.


I wish I had lived such a sheltered life as some people seem to have. No, I take that back. I never want to be the fool that stands behind a smirking child when their victims ask for help.

As a postscript, anyone in the UK watching the news yesterday would have seen the report about a father-of-one being shot dead after suffering months of harassment. The police have effectively apologised for doing nothing.

A fourteen year old boy was arrested for the murder.

A summary of the facts is here .
More here.

It is reassuring to know that police resources are being spent on dealing with a murder instead of wasting time on chronic harassment cases.

Peter Woodhams is dead, but please don't let that stop you if you feel the need to call him names.

[ August 25, 2006, 23:23: Message edited by: Ahrontil ]