A teen threatened to shoot up his school. Is keeping him in jail the answer?
In online messages, a book he was writing and statements made to others, the 19-year-old had mentioned shooting up his school so often that he was charged and convicted of making a threat of mass violence.
How to punish him was not.
'There are no good options in this case,' Maryland Judge Jill Cummins said this week moments before imposing her sentence. 'I'm sitting here struggling — and I want to be quite clear, struggling — to determine what is the best outcome. And I have to figure out the best outcome for this community as well as for Mr. Ye.'
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Lopez: For older Palisades fire evacuees, starting over is a bit bumpy, with a soft landing
Joe and Arline Halper loved their house, their neighborhood and their lifestyle in Pacific Palisades, and the plan was to stay there indefinitely. Even as Joe hit 95 and Arline approached 89, neither of them thought of themselves as old, and Arline had no appetite for moving to what she called an age-specific setting. Such as a retirement community. Then came the fire, which destroyed their house and much of the Palisades. So where do they live now? In a 175-unit retirement community. Arline said their sons were familiar with Avocet in Playa Vista, which offers both independent and assisted living with on-site care for those who need it, and loads of amenities including a rooftop swimming pool and fitness center, a bar, a movie theater and daily meals for those who'd rather not turn on the stove. The Halpers checked it out five months ago. They moved in. They're adapting. 'Now that I'm here I feel differently,' said Arline, a former teacher. 'We have a lovely apartment…and people are very warm and friendly.' One big advantage: There's no danger of the isolation that's epidemic among older adults. But communal living takes some getting used to, Joe said as we had lunch in the common dining room a few days ago with three other Palisades evacuees who relocated to Avocet. 'You could be having dinner or breakfast, whatever, and people will come over and stand over you and talk to you,' he said. 'It's total sociability here. And caring, too. But it's just exhausting.' Read more: After the fires, starting from scratch in their 70s, 80s and 90s And yet. Joe, who worked in parks administration and served until recently as an L.A. recreation and parks commissioner, goes to the gym on the top floor of the building, where he works out with weights one day and swims the next. Restaurants and shopping are within walking distance. Arline has taken up pickleball in the nearby park. And the bottom line is this: Transitions can be difficult at any age, and especially so the older you get. But there's life after the Palisades, and it's a pretty good deal if you can afford it. 'This place is not cheap,' said Bill Klein, 94, a former UCLA law professor. Bill and his wife, Renee, 85, were buddies with the Halpers in the Palisades (where Renee and Arline were longtime volunteers for the Library Association). They all said that having the close company of good friends at a time of loss and rebirth has been a big help, even as Joe and Bill nurse lingering bitterness about the chaotic evacuation and rapid spread of the fire that upended their lives. Renee, a former social worker, said she'd already begun thinking that their ocean-view Palisades home of 54 years had become too much to take care of. Unlike the Halpers, their house survived the January fire, but the neighborhood was incinerated and they're not going back. 'This was in the back of my mind, but it was not anything we were planning at the moment,' she said. 'We had a disagreement on that,' Bill said. 'I was not inclined to come to a place like this.' Bill glanced across the dining room and spoke plainly. 'Look around,' he said. 'There's a lot of old people here with their walkers and it's not a lively place, except in a forced way, in my sense of it. I think that people here try very hard to deny that they're living in an old folks home.' That's not a judgment of Avocet, or of the people. It's more of a comment on the compromise that aging imposes. Bill said he and Renee once visited her mother's retirement home, and he couldn't hide what he was thinking. Read more: Six months after the fires: 'We have lost a lot. We never lost each other.' 'Don't let them grab me and keep me here,' he told Renee. But Bill knows he's fighting the inevitable. 'I had to concede that I belonged here,' he said. 'But I didn't like it.' He's coming along, though. What he does like, Bill said, is 'pushing weights around' in the gym and swimming in the pool. 'I've made a good life for myself here,' he conceded, saying that he's devouring a stack of books, mostly nonfiction, including one he just read on Jesse James and another on artificial intelligence. When he runs out of his own books, there's a library off the lobby. And daily video lectures by experts on various subjects. And although Avocet is age-specific, Bill and Arline said, the neighborhood is not. Step outside and you're surrounded by ethnic and generational diversity, with neighbors walking to stores, restaurants and parks. 'You can go across Lincoln and you're in the wetlands,' said Arline. Joining us for lunch was Janet H., 85, another Palisades evacuee. The retired teacher, who asked me not to use her last name for privacy reasons, said her husband was upstairs in their apartment, recovering from an illness that landed him in the hospital for a month. 'This place saved our lives,' said Janet, who had lived in her Palisades home for 53 years. The on-site care offers peace of mind, and in the Palisades, her home was somewhat isolated. At Avocet, Janet said, caring neighbors and staff have been a daily comfort. And that's not even the best part of the package. 'What I'm really happy about is I never have to cook again,' Janet said. As we spoke, a woman of 98 strolled by and greetings were exchanged. A few minutes later, her husband followed after her with a walker. He'd just turned 100. 'And still going,' Arline said. 'Well, the alternative is a little more bleak,' the gentleman responded. To me, as a first-time visitor, Avocet had the feel of a grand resort or a luxury cruise ship. But does it feel like home? I asked. 'You're right,' Arline said. 'We're on a cruise, and we're not landing.' 'But maybe that's where we belong at this time,' said Janet. They belong where they've chosen to be, making the best of it in a year of unfathomable loss and unscheduled reinvention. A bumpy ride, for sure, but Joe made an observation about where they've ended up. 'It's a soft landing,' he said. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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25 minutes ago
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What Are Son of Sam Laws? Unpacking the Rules That David Berkowitz Inspired (and How They Relate to the Idaho College Murders)
Son of Sam laws were initially written to prevent criminals from profiting off their offenses — but their constitutionality has come into question The Son of Sam, otherwise known as David Berkowitz, murdered six people and injured 11 during his New York City shooting spree between 1976 and 1977. In the new Netflix docuseries Conversations With a Killer: The Son of Sam Tapes, out July 30, the serial killer details his mindset when he began murdering strangers, including what led him to write letters to the press and police in a dark cat-and-mouse game until he was finally caught in August 1977. Berkowitz reportedly enjoyed the attention he got from the media and sought to get paid for a book telling his side of the story. Lawmakers in New York tried to prevent Berkowitz and other convicts from profiting off of their crimes, leading them to pass the Son of Sam law in 1977 before the .44 Caliber Killer had a chance to collect a dime from his crimes. Berkowitz was sentenced to 25 years to life for each murder he committed. Other states enacted similar laws, but the Supreme Court delivered a judgment nearly 15 years later that killed or forced changes to many Son of Sam laws nationwide. Here is everything to know about the Son of Sam laws. What is a Son of Sam law? New York enacted the original Son of Sam law in 1977 in an effort to prevent Berkowitz and other criminals from profiting off of their crimes in the form of movie, TV, book and other media deals, according to The New York Times. In the 1977 law, victims were permitted to sue to receive any proceeds that convicted criminals received from paid media, with a Crime Victims Board able to seize the proceeds until the lawsuits were settled. Under the first Son of Sam law, victims could sue within three years from the time a criminal received payment for media related to their offenses. At the time, there was also a statute of limitations of seven years from the time the crime was committed to file a lawsuit. Why is it called the Son of Sam law? The Son of Sam law got its name from Berkowitz's murder spree from 1976 through 1977. The serial killer used the alias — derived from the name of his neighbor, Sam Carr, and his dog Harvey — in his letters to reporters and law enforcement. Berkowitz later alleged that he heard demons speaking to him through Harvey, a claim he later said he made for attention and to avoid taking accountability for the damage and trauma he caused. The New York Times reported that Berkowitz and his team were selling a book that could make between $1 million and $10 million, of which Berkowitz would receive one-third. The killer and his team were reportedly also considering selling movie rights, but Berkowitz denied these claims. How many states have Son of Sam laws? Around 40 states have Son of Sam laws, though their enforcement and the details in each vary. For example, California's former Son of Sam law stated that only people convicted of felonies were barred from profiting off of their stories and rights to film, TV, books and other media; and it specified that works with only "passing mention of the felony, as in a footnote or bibliography" were exempt. The California Supreme Court, though, struck down their Son of Sam law in 2002 for infringing upon the First Amendment, per Reporters Committee. Is the Son of Sam law unconstitutional? In 1991, the Supreme Court ruled that New York's 1977 Son of Sam law was unconstitutional in the case Simon & Schuster v. Members of the New York Crime Victims Board. The publishers of the book Wiseguy: Life in a Mafia Family by Henry Hill and Nicholas Pileggi (which would later be adapted into Martin Scorsese's acclaimed film Goodfellas) sued the Victims Board, arguing that the law made authors and editors self-censor their books. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor found in her opinion that the Son of Sam law violated the First Amendment, noting that it was "presumptively inconsistent with the First Amendment if it imposes a financial burden on speakers because of the content of their speech." She argued that under the Son of Sam law, as it was written and enacted in 1977, books like The Autobiography of Malcolm X and Henry David Thoreau's Civil Disobedience could see their proceeds not go to their respective authors. What happened to the Son of Sam law in New York? The original Son of Sam law in New York was amended in 2001 to allow victims to sue criminals not just for profits from movie, TV and book deals, but for virtually any income the convicts received while incarcerated, including lottery winnings, inheritance or stock market earnings, per The New York Times. The amended law also extended the statute of limitations from seven to 10 years from the date of the crimes. In December 2023, CBS News reported that New York lawmakers sought to amend the Son of Sam law again to also apply to spouses and relatives of criminals after the Gilgo Beach serial killer suspect Rex Heuermann's estranged wife, Asa Ellerup, was reportedly paid seven figures from Peacock when she appeared in a documentary. Peacock said in a statement at the time that Ellerup "was not paid for her participation, but was paid a licensing fee for use of her archive materials." Peacock also noted that the funds were not permitted to be given to Heuermann or his criminal defense. The proposed amended law would also require any company paying a criminal's relatives or spouses $10,000 or more to notify the New York State Office of Victim Services, which would in turn notify victims, Newsday reported. Does Idaho have a Son of Sam law? Idaho does not have a specific Son of Sam law, a point that the judge in the University of Idaho murder trial alluded to in his sentencing of Bryan Kohberger, per the Independent. Kohberger stabbed Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin to death in their shared home in November 2022. He pleaded guilty to the quadruple murder three weeks before his trial was set to begin in exchange for avoiding the death penalty and received four life sentences. "I know there has been concern about him collaborating on books, or movies, or other media projects, and I truly hope that someone does not stoop to affording him this spotlight that he desires, in the name of clicks, royalties, or profits," Judge Steven Hippler said at Kohberger's sentencing hearing. "In my view, the time has now come to end Mr. Kohberger's 15 minutes of fame." Judge Hippler also encouraged the victims' loved ones and the public to not give Kohberger the notoriety that he suspected the killer wanted. "The need to know what is inherently not understandable makes us dependent upon the defendant to provide us with a reason, and that gives him the spotlight, the attention and the power he appears to crave," Hippler said. "Yet, even if I could force him to speak, which legally I cannot, how could anyone ever be assured that what he speaks is the truth?" Read the original article on People
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25 minutes ago
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Colorado man's TikTok of woman posing as his wife and trying to withdraw $28K from their bank unveils $200K theft spree
A woman walked into several Colorado banks, posed as customers and stole around $199,000. Victims continue to struggle with the aftermath of the theft, while authorities believe additional cases will be uncovered as the investigation progresses. In a 9News interview, Mariah Rapp recounts how she had just started her morning when she got a jarring phone call from her local bank. 'A woman came in with a driver's license with your name and address on it and tried to take out $28,000 from your line of credit,' a banker told her. Luckily, Rapp was well-known at her Adams Bank & Trust branch in Longmont, Colorado. The banker sensed something was off and denied the transaction. 'He was like, 'For some reason, I just thought, that's not the Mariah that comes in here. Something's off.'' Mariah recalled the banker's words. The would-be thief walked out empty-handed — but not unnoticed. The bank gave Rapp a photo of the woman who had tried to impersonate her. Calm and chatty, she had claimed to be starting a business. Rapp's husband, a TikToker, posted about the incident, and the video quickly went viral. 'Would you mind maybe not going into my bank with a fake ID that you had made with all of my wife's information on it?' he said in the video. That TikTok would ultimately expose a crime wave. Don't miss Thanks to Jeff Bezos, you can now become a landlord for as little as $100 — and no, you don't have to deal with tenants or fix freezers. Here's how I'm 49 years old and have nothing saved for retirement — what should I do? Don't panic. Here are 5 of the easiest ways you can catch up (and fast) Want an extra $1,300,000 when you retire? Dave Ramsey says this 7-step plan 'works every single time' to kill debt, get rich in America — and that 'anyone' can do it Used a fake ID Shan Murphy saw the viral video and felt a chill. Her bank had just emailed her, thanking her for a visit she never made. When she checked her account, $88,000 was gone. 'She has an ID with her picture, but my information on it,' Murphy said. The woman looked nothing like her. Then came Levi, the third known victim. He noticed two charges on his banking app: A $111,000 cashier's check and $25,000 in cash, totalling $136,000 withdrawn from his Longmont bank account. Someone also applied for a $50,000 personal loan in his name, but was denied. 'This is like modern bank robbery,' Levi said. In total, at least four known victims have come forward, all from different banks. Police believe the suspect used high-quality fake IDs, social engineering and confidence to convince tellers she was someone else. Investigators say a cashier's check from Levi's account was even cashed at a bank in Connecticut using yet another state ID. Read more: Nervous about the stock market in 2025? Find out how you can How to stay vigilant against identity theft The crimes involve both identity theft — the use of someone else's personal information to commit fraud — and wire fraud, the use of telecommunications or the internet to defraud someone of money. Wire fraud often happens through email or phishing, but it can also occur in person when someone triggers financial transactions through deception. Longmont Police released the suspect's photo, and banks launched internal investigations. Some victims have received promises of reimbursement. According to the Federal Trade Commission, identity theft affected over 2.6 million Americans in 2024, with $12.5 billion in losses tied to fraud. To guard against this type of fraud: Visit your bank regularly: In-person interactions build familiarity with staff who may recognize unusual behavior. Protect your accounts: Use multi-factor authentication (MFA) on all financial accounts. Freeze your credit reports: Lock your credit files with Equifax, Experian and TransUnion to prevent unauthorized accounts from being opened in your name. Stay vigilant: Monitor accounts daily for suspicious activity. Use notifications: Set transaction alerts to flag unusual amounts or out-of-state withdrawals. Most importantly, trust your gut. As Rapp's banker proved, sometimes it just takes one vigilant person to stop a significant crime. If you recognize the woman in the released photos, contact the Longmont Police Department. Investigators believe more victims may still come forward. What to read next Robert Kiyosaki warns of a 'Greater Depression' coming to the US — with millions of Americans going poor. But he says these 2 'easy-money' assets will bring in 'great wealth'. How to get in now Here are 5 simple ways to grow rich with real estate if you don't want to play landlord. And you can even start with as little as $10 Rich, young Americans are ditching the stormy stock market — here are the alternative assets they're banking on instead Here are 5 'must have' items that Americans (almost) always overpay for — and very quickly regret. How many are hurting you? Stay in the know. Join 200,000+ readers and get the best of Moneywise sent straight to your inbox every week for free. This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
