"You wouldn't believe it, one night I got in jail in Starkville Mississippi for picking flowers." Johnny Cash
It's crazy how TomC seems to forgo the 6-year-old child part. Do you really think the State Police (and staff), the prosecutor (and their staff), Lawyer (and staff) Judge (and staff) should spend any time on a case about a 6-year-old & a flower? All this posturing and creating arguments out of thin air to justify a 6-year-old in court is just silly man.
I don't see why my point is so hard to grasp. I'm hardly "forgoing" the SIX year old part. I agree, it's idiotic for a small child to wind up in court. It's the adults who are the problem. I'm just not sure in what way, and I'm confident that there's a back story that has not been covered in the media. But when small children are involved I assume parental responsibility until demonstrated otherwise. So far, I've seen no evidence of that. What I mostly see is victim blaming. Somebody suggested the homeowners should move!
Maybe the city has been promising the victims that the bus stop would be moved half a block down for years, but haven't gotten around to actually doing it. This is the victim's way of pressuring the city to keep that promise. Maybe the kid's single mom dumped him on a reluctant grandma and went off with her new boyfriend, who doesn't like kids. Grandma isn't legal guardian, feels no responsibility for the kid's behavior, and can't reach his mother.
Who knows?
But I'm sure that there is more to this story than "evil homeowners trying to destroy an innocent young boy." I just don't claim to know what it is.
Tom