It was supposed to be simple, breaking into a small boatyard near here and stealing a marine radio to monitor police frequencies.
But when the two intruders, Patrick V., 14, and his accomplice, Christopher Conley, 19, spotted what they thought were video surveillance cameras, they panicked and set fire to the building, burning it down along with several boats and engines. Unknown to them, one of the boat engines belonged to former President George Bush, whose summer house is seven miles away.
Within days of the July 2002 fire, Secret Service and other federal agents were at Patrick's house here. His mother, Denise Collier, said they told her that the young men had "blown up the president's boat" in what might have been "a terrorist act." One federal firearms agent told her, Ms. Collier recalled, that the incident had raised "national security concerns."
...
Under a federal law dating to the 1970's, juveniles are to be tried in state juvenile court except in special circumstances, said Robert Schwartz, director of the Juvenile Law Center in Philadelphia, a nonprofit law firm that represents juveniles. The attorney general of the United States or the local United States attorney must certify to the court in writing that the case meets these requirements, Mr. Schwartz said.
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There are so few juveniles in the custody of the bureau that it does not even have its own juvenile prison, Mr. Dunne said. Instead, it has contracts with states, like Pennsylvania, where Patrick is being kept at the Cresson Secure Treatment Center in the central part of the state.
Cresson is for the most serious juvenile offenders in Pennsylvania who have proved disruptive in other facilities. Patrick is now housed in a wing where the other inmates are all mentally ill or mentally retarded, his mother said.
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"They already had all the evidence they needed," Mr. Mongue said. "This was not a thin case. I am unaware of any investigation after Mike Cantara gave Patrick to the feds."
"So the real question is why the feds were so hellbent on obtaining jurisdiction," he said. "It's difficult not to draw the conclusion that the reason was the Bush connection."
How charmingly naive. Mr. Mongue, the reason can be summed up in two words: John Ashcroft. He of the jurisdictional gerrymandering escapades...if there's a chance to use the needle or the jail cell to maximum effect, you can be sure that No-Justice Johnny will be standing in the courthouse door with a noose and a bible. Count on it.
To be really hard-boiled about this, it is incredibly expensive to house anyone in a maximum security prison with psychiatric patients, juvenile or adult.
The states have no rights when the Feds want a case. Most bank robberies are solved by local law enforcement, through and including the arrest. The Feds come in after the case is wrapped up, take it court and get the conviction.
If the case looks a little shaky, they refuse prosecution so they don't have to take the loss, and the state goes ahead under state laws.
In case anyone missed the problems uncovered by 9-11 commissions, the communication with Federal law enforcement is one-way. The locals are expected to give everything they have to the Feds and the Feds tell locals nothing. Admittedly I have only personal experience dealing with the FBI, Secret Service, INS Criminal, and DoD Security. Perhaps BATF or the Marshal's Service are more accomodating, but I doubt it.
posted by: Bryan on 12.25.03 at 01:21 AM [permalink]
