The Dark Witch: An Issue Regarding Sentencing

[Heloin]

I think magical Columbine isn't the best setting for a scenario, just saying.

[Andsed]

If a psych evaluation sees her diagnosed as mentally ill then hospitalization and treatment for sure. In the other case 10 to 20 years or if rehabilitation seems unlikely life.

[Infected Mushroom]

I think magical Columbine isn't the best setting for a scenario, just saying.

C... Columbine????

[Heloin]

I think magical Columbine isn't the best setting for a scenario, just saying.

C... Columbine????

I skimmed through the OP but that was my takeaway.

[Infected Mushroom]

C... Columbine????

I skimmed through the OP but that was my takeaway.

No one dies.

[The Dauntless Union]

If you're stupid enough to attack a school and the children within it, you should be made to rot away for the rest of your pathetic life contemplating what you did and how moronic you were.

[Infected Mushroom]

Anyone dumb enough to get Home Aloned by a couple kids deserves the death penalty.

I mean... could happen to anyone.

Kids can be really nimble and quick-thinking, and the hamster can catch people off guard. Plus the strange surrounding of magical objects.

The witch isn’t the smartest but it’s not the most unacceptable loss.

[Galloism]

I skimmed through the OP but that was my takeaway.

No one dies.

Columbine, except the attacker is both magical and incompetent.

[Infected Mushroom]

No one dies.

Columbine, except the attacker is both magical and incompetent.

But there was no bullying...

[The Dauntless Union]

Columbine, except the attacker is both magical and incompetent.

But there was no bullying...

I think he's going from the whole attacking children angle more then the mental reasoning behind it angle

[Heloin]

Columbine, except the attacker is both magical and incompetent.

But there was no bullying...

There wasn’t any in Columbine either.

[Infected Mushroom]

But there was no bullying...

There wasn’t any in Columbine either.

I mean, this isn’t a plan of mass murder. It’s a heist that got escalated. I’m not sure the dynamic is the same.

The starting and end points don’t align.

[Galloism]

There wasn’t any in Columbine either.

I mean, this isn’t a plan of mass murder. It’s a heist that got escalated. I’m not sure the dynamic is the same.

The starting and end points don’t align.

Given the entire escalation happened when the powerful witch got accidentally knocked down by a toy ball, she should have put a few points into CON or DEX.

[Infected Mushroom]

I mean, this isn’t a plan of mass murder. It’s a heist that got escalated. I’m not sure the dynamic is the same.

The starting and end points don’t align.

Given the entire escalation happened when the powerful witch got accidentally knocked down by a toy ball, she should have put a few points into CON or DEX.

What are those? Medicines?

[Galloism]

Given the entire escalation happened when the powerful witch got accidentally knocked down by a toy ball, she should have put a few points into CON or DEX.

What are those? Medicines?

If I have to explain the joke, it is no longer funny.

[Cetacea]

the electric eels were just a tad unrealistic dont you think

However for the assault and attempted murder of an 11 year old the punishment would warrant at least 10 years inside the Mirror. Compound that with breaking and entering, destruction of property and three cases of telekinetic binding, she may well be liable for more, though I might allow 10 years non-parole then good behaviour warranting an additional 10 years of community service to the school

PS I think IMs scenarios have become my favourite part of NSG, certainly less depressing than politics

[Neanderthaland]

Azkaban

[Ethel mermania]

Azkaban

No redemption for her in book 7 at the wall for how she faced the white walkers?

[Infected Mushroom]

the electric eels were just a tad unrealistic dont you think

However for the assault and attempted murder of an 11 year old the punishment would warrant at least 10 years inside the Mirror. Compound that with breaking and entering, destruction of property and three cases of telekinetic binding, she may well be liable for more, though I might allow 10 years non-parole then good behaviour warranting an additional 10 years of community service to the school

PS I think IMs scenarios have become my favourite part of NSG, certainly less depressing than politics

After her ordeal, she’s become really scared of mirrors.

Also, 20 years total? It’s very heavy. Not to mention... isn’t the school going to be really unbearably smug when the community service part comes up?

Would the magic be returned to her eventually or not?

[Infected Mushroom]

If a psych evaluation sees her diagnosed as mentally ill then hospitalization and treatment for sure. In the other case 10 to 20 years or if rehabilitation seems unlikely life.

and how would you assess whether rehabilitation seems likely or not?

[Infected Mushroom]

And in your view what ballpark would you say the years should be in?

Well, the witch threw projectiles at minor children and bound them (which, incidentally, is considered a false imprisonment); her reluctance also suggests a lack of remorse... these would be generally considered aggravating factors; she also committed burglary and criminal damage while armed with a deadly weapon (her own magic), and she herself is of the age to have a fully developed prefrontal cortex.

I would say ten years, with a recommendation to not be considered for release until at least two-thirds of the sentence (in the UK, burglary alone can get 14, while burglary with an offensive weapon can get life; and criminal damage ten; false imprisonment also carries twelve years). I would have probably leaned more towards a more lenient sentence, but then the witch attacked the children and falsely imprisoned them.

EDIT: Although, if the witch has not been psychiatrically assessed, that should be done. She cannot be just "hospitalised for mental illness" (as one option has it) on the off-chance, but were psychiatrists to decide she was experiencing mental health issues that led to her crime (because that is far from true for all or even most mental health issues), I would not object to her being detained in a secure unit for as long as it took for her to be helped.

What do you mean by her reluctance?

[The Free Joy State]

Well, the witch threw projectiles at minor children and bound them (which, incidentally, is considered a false imprisonment); her reluctance also suggests a lack of remorse... these would be generally considered aggravating factors; she also committed burglary and criminal damage while armed with a deadly weapon (her own magic), and she herself is of the age to have a fully developed prefrontal cortex.

I would say ten years, with a recommendation to not be considered for release until at least two-thirds of the sentence (in the UK, burglary alone can get 14, while burglary with an offensive weapon can get life; and criminal damage ten; false imprisonment also carries twelve years). I would have probably leaned more towards a more lenient sentence, but then the witch attacked the children and falsely imprisoned them.

EDIT: Although, if the witch has not been psychiatrically assessed, that should be done. She cannot be just "hospitalised for mental illness" (as one option has it) on the off-chance, but were psychiatrists to decide she was experiencing mental health issues that led to her crime (because that is far from true for all or even most mental health issues), I would not object to her being detained in a secure unit for as long as it took for her to be helped.

What do you mean by her reluctance?

To write the lines (which technically, was a waste of time as the police should have just been called to take her away). It adds to her overall demeanour suggesting she feels no remorse.

Well, that and she attacked children, and chased them around a building while hurling projectiles and plotting vengeance because they lost control of a ball... That also suggests a fairly remorseless attitude.

[Infected Mushroom]

What do you mean by her reluctance?

To write the lines (which technically, was a waste of time as the police should have just been called to take her away). It adds to her overall demeanour suggesting she feels no remorse.

Well, that and she attacked children, and chased them around a building while hurling projectiles and plotting vengeance because they lost control of a ball... That also suggests a fairly remorseless attitude.

I understand the second point, but with the first point... wouldn't writing the lines help rather than hurt her case? She cooperated with the writing of the lines.

[The Free Joy State]

To write the lines (which technically, was a waste of time as the police should have just been called to take her away). It adds to her overall demeanour suggesting she feels no remorse.

Well, that and she attacked children, and chased them around a building while hurling projectiles and plotting vengeance because they lost control of a ball... That also suggests a fairly remorseless attitude.

I understand the second point, but with the first point... wouldn't writing the lines help rather than hurt her case? She cooperated with the writing of the lines.

Very reluctantly. You say she was sullen and it took her may hours:

The sullen witch eventually finishes writing but it takes many hours.

This does not suggest any remorse. Lack of remorse is an aggravating factor when calculating charges.

It also was unnecessary busywork as anyone who invades a school or attacks a child should be turned straight over to the police -- no exceptions -- and the full-force of the law be brought down upon them (unless they are found to be legally incompetent, in which case they can be committed to a secure unit).

[Infected Mushroom]

I understand the second point, but with the first point... wouldn't writing the lines help rather than hurt her case? She cooperated with the writing of the lines.

Very reluctantly. You say she was sullen and it took her may hours:

The sullen witch eventually finishes writing but it takes many hours.

This does not suggest any remorse. Lack of remorse is an aggravating factor when calculating charges.

It also was unnecessary busywork as anyone who invades a school or attacks a child should be turned straight over to the police -- no exceptions -- and the full-force of the law be brought down upon them (unless they are found to be legally incompetent, in which case they can be committed to a secure unit).

1,000 repetitions of a paragraph by hand using quill and parchment is going to take more than a whole evening (in fact, I'm not even sure it's physically possible). And I think anyone writing that out is not going to look too happy.

Have you ever done any lines in school? I think I was assigned 200 or something (and it was one sentence) and it still took tons of time.