In an ongoing effort to criminalize youth, a Bronx DA has no intentions of backing away from charges that could put four young men in jail for a year—because of a snowball fight.
In a standard-issue “he said/he said” case, an off-duty cop claims he was hit in the back of the head with snowballs and “menaced” to the extent where he felt it reasonable to draw his gun. The young men—who range in age from 15 to 22—claim the cop was hit by accident, and even then, only in the leg.
Everyone knows it can be nerve-wracking trying to figure out how best to walk through a snowball fight because 1) you do not want to get hit; 2) you do not want to look like you are losing your ground; and 3) you do not actually want to get in a fight with a bunch of teenagers, but drawing a gun is probably not the right call.
And a year in jail? Does that really translate into a net gain for society, throwing a bunch of college-age kids into prison? No, it is not.
