NationStates Jolt Archive

Strange. I could have sworn I had posted a topic about this, last month. Anyway, the article I'm about to post is an update to a series of articles from last month.

Basically, three high-school students about to graduate decided to copycat a prank off of MTV by baking a cake that contained Dulcolax laxative tablets and feeding it to their teachers. They were suspended from the school, barred from graduation, and charged with "felony assault on a teacher", which if convicted could have landed them behind bars for as long as seven years. The background sources are as follows:

The New York Daily News
Students' laxative-spiked cake sends Brooklyn teachers to hospital (http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2008/06/17/2008-06-17_students_laxativespiked_cake_sends_brook.html) - June 18, 2008
Sick cake prank ripped off MTV (http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2008/06/18/2008-06-18_sick_cake_prank_ripped_off_mtv.html) - June 18, 2008
Cake-prank kids aren't laughing now (http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2008/06/19/2008-06-19_cakeprank_kids_arent_laughing_now.html) - June 19, 2008

Those were last month. This is the most recent development:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2008/07/09/2008-07-09_cake_prank_charges_relaxed-2.html
Cake prank charges re-laxed
BY SCOTT SHIFREL
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Wednesday, July 9th 2008, 11:31 PM

Charges against three Brooklyn high school students accused of sickening teachers with a laxative-laced cake were lowered Wednesday from felonies to misdemeanors.

Tiara Peoples, Kenny Ramirez and Quashon Burton, all 17-year-old students at the Brooklyn School for Global Studies, still face a possible year behind bars but likely will not get jail time.

"The injuries were minimal," Assistant District Attorney Nora Cronin told a judge as she announced that prosecutors were reducing the charges for the mid-June prank.

The teens covered their heads to hide from reporters as they rushed out of Criminal Court after a brief hearing.

Peoples was crying as she was chased down the street by photographers and a television news camera.

"Good. From what I'm hearing elsewhere it's all been a big joke to them so far," said teacher Tom Mancuso, who is still having reactions to what cops say was a cake laced with Dulcolax.

"I don't want them to go to jail and I don't want them not to go to college, but I want them to be punished," said another staff member who ate a piece of cake. "We still don't know exactly what was in that cake. It was very, very scary."
Depriving them of a college education probably won't contribute to their development as law-abiding citizens in the future (or, at least, more law-abiding than they were last month). The public humiliation will hopefully suffice to drive the point home that this sort of conduct is never acceptable under any circumstances.

At the same time, though, I take a very dim view of malicious pranks, and I'm not going to be particularly sympathetic to them if they do wind up behind bars for a year.

--The Democratic States of Cogitation

Were they barred from the graduation ceremony or barred from graduating? I was barred from the ceremony, it didn't affect anything, other that pissing off my mother because apparently she "earned" the right to watch me walk. :rolleyes:

i remember the thread.

some kind of misdemeanor conviction seems appropriate to the offense.

Infraction, not misdemeanor. That would be too much.

No harm done, no harm could be done.

Were they barred from the graduation ceremony or barred from graduating? I was barred from the ceremony, it didn't affect anything, other that pissing off my mother because apparently she "earned" the right to watch me walk. :rolleyes:Barred from the ceremony. The second article says "In the Brooklyn case, in addition to the criminal charges, the teens were suspended and barred from graduation ceremonies, but will get diplomas."

Infraction, not misdemeanor. That would be too much.

No harm done, no harm could be done.I disagree. You never know if someone might be allergic to particular types or brands of laxatives. "Some people may be allergic to psyllium, a key ingredient in one type of bulk-forming laxative." (http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/otc-center/otc-medicines/861.html) I don't know about psyllium allergies, specifically, or what ingredients in Dulcolax (the actual laxative used in the cake) might be allergens, but other allergic reactions have been known to do serious harm or even kill. If any of the victims of the prank had turned out to be allergic, the consequences could have been much more serious; serious harm was not outside the realm of possibility.

As close as some teachers get to their students (in non-scandalous ways, I mean), they're still unlikely to share their medical histories, and pranksters generally don't ask "Hey, are you allergic to anything in this prank I'm about to pull on you?"

Consequently, I think a misdemeanor charge is appropriate. If someone had been harmed, then prosecutors might very well have kept it as a felony charge with prison time. At the very least, leading someone to believe that they might be harmed is worth a misdemeanor charge; no one should ever have to fear for their life or health because of a prank.

--The Democratic States of Cogitation
"Think about it for a moment."

I disagree. You never know if someone might be allergic to particular types or brands of laxatives. "Some people may be allergic to psyllium, a key ingredient in one type of bulk-forming laxative." (http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/otc-center/otc-medicines/861.html) I don't know about psyllium allergies, specifically, or what ingredients in Dulcolax (the actual laxative used in the cake) might be allergens, but other allergic reactions have been known to do serious harm or even kill. If any of the victims of the prank had turned out to be allergic, the consequences could have been much more serious; serious harm was not outside the realm of possibility.

Dulcolax (http://www.drugs.com/cdi/dulcolax.html)is a stimulant laxative, and thus particularly unpleasant to take unexpectedly. (Heck, they're usually unpleasant when you intend to take them.)

A misdemeanor charge seems fair, when you add it to the fact that any potential employer will be able to Google their names and find out what kind of sense of humor their employee has.

Barred from the ceremony. The second article says "In the Brooklyn case, in addition to the criminal charges, the teens were suspended and barred from graduation ceremonies, but will get diplomas."

I disagree. You never know if someone might be allergic to particular types or brands of laxatives. "Some people may be allergic to psyllium, a key ingredient in one type of bulk-forming laxative." (http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/otc-center/otc-medicines/861.html) I don't know about psyllium allergies, specifically, or what ingredients in Dulcolax (the actual laxative used in the cake) might be allergens, but other allergic reactions have been known to do serious harm or even kill. If any of the victims of the prank had turned out to be allergic, the consequences could have been much more serious; serious harm was not outside the realm of possibility.

As close as some teachers get to their students (in non-scandalous ways, I mean), they're still unlikely to share their medical histories, and pranksters generally don't ask "Hey, are you allergic to anything in this prank I'm about to pull on you?"

Consequently, I think a misdemeanor charge is appropriate. If someone had been harmed, then prosecutors might very well have kept it as a felony charge with prison time. At the very least, leading someone to believe that they might be harmed is worth a misdemeanor charge; no one should ever have to fear for their life or health because of a prank.

--The Democratic States of Cogitation
"Think about it for a moment."

I can agree with that ... I am inclined to view a harsher sentence but what they did was completely and utterly un-acceptable