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AARP made the forecast some time ago that the largest criminal class yet to come will be seniors. Makes sense to me. And, if social security goes under, or they keep raising the retirement age, fasten your seatbelts!
I was mugged by two grey-haired senior citizens while traveling to Ecuador one time, and afterwards, I thought: This is what's coming to the U.S. some day! I racked it up as a test case! And these seniors were dressed to the nines!
Of course, I was shocked speechless! Two seemingly helpful seniors coming to the aid of a tourist! You look lost! You need directions?
I say put grandma in jail because her age has nothing to do with making the threat.
Hands up - anyone raised by grandparents or involved in eldercare
I don't know about the elderly that others have been involved with - my own grandmother; who I lived with for over 10 years and whose affairs I supervised almost until her death; became one of the orneriest, mean-tempered, difficult-to-deal with people I ever had the onerous chore to deal with. Mygawd, I danced a *** when that old bat cacked She wasn't alone in her mission to be as nasty to general society as her scrawny spirit could muster, her last years were spent in subsidized senior housing, along with about 100 other elderly female hellspawn. Those women belied the "sweet old lady" epithet generally given to females of senior years. I could well see any one of them being capable of verbal threats, at least. If they were particularly crabby, they'd pick up the nearest object and throw it. I witnessed a number of squabbles when they gathered for their "sociables", had a difference of opinion or jealous fit over the very few single men available in the building, and began tossing bingo cards, coffee cups and canes. We're talking about incidents that would have earned someone an arrest for assault if they'd been 20 years younger.
Were the police ever brought in? No. Law enforcement made it clear that they didn't want to deal with people whose mental faculties might have been acute but who would be physical burdens. None of the police precincts in the area wanted to be responsible for old folks who needed to have their blood pressure, sugar level, cholesterol meds and arthritis pills monitored and administered. Those old farts might have mentally acute, physically spry enough to launch objects, and scratchy in spirit, but all hell would be paid if one of them had an "episode" while under police custody. What the police would do, as a last resort, is lecture them (often earning a barrage of abusive words in return) and then tell the facility manager to call their kids and "let them deal with the old biddies".
I'm encouraged by the direction this thread is taking.
As a sixty-five-year-old, I would love to walk up to a male member of the Westboro Baptist Church during one of their funeral appearances and hit him in the head with a baseball bat.
Do you think a jury would let me off with a scolding, owing to my age and infirmity? Or would I have to do hard time in the local jail? (Actually, I wouldn't mind being locked up for short stretch, as long as it isn't with that 80-year old chick with the knife.)
Were I on your jury,I would cite "insufficient evidence" and vote to dismiss all charges.
The elderly commit crimes for the exact same reason as anyone else does: because they believe they can get away with it. Throw a little retaliation into the scenario, and watch the level of elderly crime go down.
Recently, an unidentified 80 year old woman made threats to castrate a politician who planned to cut off funding for Planned Parenthood. The FBI said the woman won't be identified nor will she be prosecuted because the threat wasn't credible. Whether it was not credible because of the woman's age is not clearly articulated but is implied.
I've also read that crimes by the elderly are on the rise...to me, a natural occurence due to aging populations in different countries.
I don't want to make this question about this particular case but about the elderly and crimes (felonies and non-felonies), in general. Usually, the media portrays the elderly as crime victims. I want to talk about them as perpetrators of crime in your countries.
Is it your perception that a larger percentage of older people (for the sake of argument let's say 70 and older) aren't charged/prosecuted for their crimes because of their age compared to younger people accused of the same type crimes? Should they be charged/prosecuted? If charged and convicted, should their age be weighed when it comes to leniency in sentencing. Is it your perception that there is a difference between older men versus older women?
This is not to imply that there are a lot of Age 70+ people committing crimes but that it is my perception that a larger percentage of the ones that do commit crimes aren't charged/prosecuted or receive more lenient sentences than younger perpetrators/criminals.
Recently, an unidentified 80 year old woman made threats to castrate a politician
that's a penis hate crime, no matter who says it!!
Recently, an unidentified 80 year old woman made threats to castrate a politician who planned to cut off funding for Planned Parenthood. The FBI said the woman won't be identified nor will she be prosecuted because the threat wasn't credible. Whether it was not credible because of the woman's age is not clearly articulated but is implied.
I've also read that crimes by the elderly are on the rise...to me, a natural occurence due to aging populations in different countries.
I don't want to make this question about this particular case but about the elderly and crimes (felonies and non-felonies), in general. Usually, the media portrays the elderly as crime victims. I want to talk about them as perpetrators of crime in your countries.
Is it your perception that a larger percentage of older people (for the sake of argument let's say 70 and older) aren't charged/prosecuted for their crimes because of their age compared to younger people accused of the same type crimes? Should they be charged/prosecuted? If charged and convicted, should their age be weighed when it comes to leniency in sentencing. Is it your perception that there is a difference between older men versus older women?
This is not to imply that there are a lot of Age 70+ people committing crimes but that it is my perception that a larger percentage of the ones that do commit crimes aren't charged/prosecuted or receive more lenient sentences than younger perpetrators/criminals.
ANYONE who willfully chooses to suppress their moral conscience to commit a crime, needs to be reprimanded in a Court of Law. The punishment needs to fit the crime and age should not be a consideration ; the gravity of the crime is what matters. Forget letting elderly or underaged people off with lighter sentences --- an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.........no more and no less. Thats what justice is supposed to be like.
i think we (society) don't quite know what to do with the elderly when they commit crimes. Even if they are arrested we tend to think of the situation as (a) funny bizarre, (b) sad as in the poor senile person, (c) sad as in this is what the world has come to that even our elderly can't seem to make ends meet and have to resort to this.
More food for thought: 92 yo woman denied kiss, fires shots (http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/42209141/ns/local_news-orlando_fl/ - broken link). This may seem hilarious on the surface, but the man could have been killed. One can argue, "aww, he should have just given the dear old lady a peck", but why should he?!
i think we (society) don't quite know what to do with the elderly when they commit crimes. Even if they are arrested we tend to think of the situation as (a) funny bizarre, (b) sad as in the poor senile person, (c) sad as in this is what the world has come to that even our elderly can't seem to make ends meet and have to resort to this.
More food for thought: 92 yo woman denied kiss, fires shots (http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/42209141/ns/local_news-orlando_fl/ - broken link). This may seem hilarious on the surface, but the man could have been killed. One can argue, "aww, he should have just given the dear old lady a peck", but why should he?!
I suppose an elderly person could validly be insane at the time they take the life of another , but justice demands a level of punishment for the innocent victim . Each situation needs to be carefully weighed . I wonder how many elderly Perpetrators use the insane mantra as an excuse (?)
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She wasn't alone in her mission to be as nasty to general society as her scrawny spirit could muster, her last years were spent in subsidized senior housing, along with about 100 other elderly female hellspawn. Those women belied the "sweet old lady" epithet generally given to females of senior years. I could well see any one of them being capable of verbal threats, at least. If they were particularly crabby, they'd pick up the nearest object and throw it. I witnessed a number of squabbles when they gathered for their "sociables", had a difference of opinion or jealous fit over the very few single men available in the building, and began tossing bingo cards, coffee cups and canes. We're talking about incidents that would have earned someone an arrest for assault if they'd been 20 years younger.
