By Mark David Blum, Esq.
These are dark days in Manlius. Some of our best and brightest engaged in a major criminal tampering of the High School computers and shortly, the last of them will be sentenced. Apparently nobody is going to jail, restitution and probation will be ordered, and each will be granted ‘youthful offender’ status which erases their criminal conviction from the public record.
None of the involved are clients of mine. Each had a very good lawyer and the end result reflects how such cases are generally resolved. A handslap, restitution, probation, and YO. Whether these sentences have any impact on the individuals themselves or a deterrent effect on others is yet to be seen. Personally, I think keeping them in school would have been the better outcome for the greater benefit of societyas a whole. That, however was not my call to make.
There are two things I want to say directly to these kids. I say these things because I have lived them. There will come many a point when each of them will find themselves alone dancing with their demons. What I fear the most is that one of them would give up and take the Michael Duffy way out instead of holding on and fighting.
First, I understand what these kids did. Obviously I do not condone it. But, like drugs or reckless driving or having 500 of your closest friends at your house party while your parents are away; the tampering with the computers belongs to a class of crimes that I have labeled “age appropriate misbehavior”. As can be seen in the outcome, the justice system has turned into crimes what we used to call mischievous though it generally tempers justice with mercy.
We all do a lot of stupid things as we mature. Look back into your own history and ask yourself how lucky you are to have not been arrested when …. How many times in your past should you have been dead or did you get away with something you would not tolerate from another? I know that in my late teens and early 20’s I made many a stupid decision; some of which still haunt me today. How many of us cheated death? (For the record, I do not include in this class of crime, acts that harm others as that is a character trait that is hard wired by an early age).
The best evidence of the age appropriateness is the sheer stupidity of the act. At the same time as the scandal broke here in Manlius, I was in trial in Oswego. I recall during my summation in that trial getting quite a few yucks pointing out how sheer stupid it was to break into a system and then change only your own grades. These kids, however big may be their hearts, lacked the brains to see the boomerang effect of their efforts.
Second, and I tell you this as one who has committed an act so stupid and selfish that it cost me the use of my license for 2 years. With that went the last ten years of my life and everything I accomplished. Now at 48, it is a really tough spot to be in.
At least one of students is described as being brilliant with enormous potential who had, “41 A's and eight A-pluses and only two B-pluses in his high school career, plus a 98 average on his Regents … [and] now his name is all over the Internet, and it's a bell you can't un-ring."
True that; you cannot un-ring a bell. It is up to each of them to give the bell a new tone. There is going to be a period of time when they will be publicly shunned. If they just hold on, maintain low profiles, find temporary distractions in school or work, eventually they can work out of it. A brilliant mind does not evaporate because of a computer hack. It will evaporate from lack of use and a loss of personal drive. Ambition and the will to live and succeed is going to be what makes the difference in these kids’ lives.
Some may have golden parachutes and extended family to soften the blow of the punishment. That is too bad. Each of these kids really needs to feel the pain. Until they hit bottom and face their demons, it will always be there lurking and waiting to strike.
George Burns said it best. “When you have skeletons in the closet, the best thing to do is take them out and dance with them.”
I don’t take any pride in my sins of the past. And yes, I too suffered punishment and professional shunning. But until I faced the demon itself and dealt with the underlying issue that caused the brain fart that brought about what Pink Floyd called a “momentary lapse of reason”, nothing in my life was going to change. Nowadays, I did what I did and its over for me. Those who were my friends still are, those who hated me from before still do, and those who did not know me are learning slowly I am not the evildoer portrayed in tale and song.
At its heart, perhaps such is the message I am trying to get across: After each kid gets through the anger phase and the blame phase, they will hopefully finally start to look inward. At some point, there will be the realization and perhaps the neverending re-experiencing of the moment the decision was made ... and why. It may take years to wash that scarlet letter off their forehead and for some, it may never leave. But if each really deals with the demon, they will come through it with not only greater insight into themselves, but a far better understanding of their relationship to the world. With me, I also came out of it with a new set of life priorities.
“Hope” is all there is right now. Never let go of “hope”. This is not the end as for each student, there remain at least another 70 years they each have to negotiate through life. “Hope” that at some point, surely not visible now, they will be able to return to life’s original course and dreams. Maybe instead, there will be new ones; better ones. Never let go of the lifeline called “hope” and there will be a better day.
Look around: Oliver North is making a bazillion dollars of Faux News. Marv Albert is the Man and Voice of the NBA. Joseph Biden, caught plagiarizing in law school, still became a lawyer and United States Senator. Even little old me is back in the game and doing the Lord’s work.
A man I adore and love gave me a copy of the following poem by Dylan Thomas upon my return to practice. I carry it with me to this day.
