John Bambenek, a Downstate conservative blogger from University of Illinois country, has weighed in on the felony hate crime arrests of the two Crystal Lake South High School students.

Originally posted on Part-Time Pundit, I saw it on Illinois Review.

Bambenek points out,

“It should be noted that they have not yet been tried, only charged.”

He argues jail is needed only “where the accused is a flight risk in a serious case and where the accused would pose eminent danger to society if released.”

Then, he cites more heinous crimes for which bail has been granted, for example, murder.

Bambenek adds,

The judge, in commenting on denying bail, said that the girl’s home situation was unacceptable. It’s unclear how a judge can legally take a child out of their home simply because the child shows up in the courtroom for an obnoxious high school prank. We have the Department of Children and Family Services for that. In fact, the judge likely only spent a few moments looking at court documents (that had no home investigation) in making his sweeping judgment about the fitness of the parents. At least DCFS would conduct an investigation before taking custody of kids.

He concludes,

What these girls did was obnoxious, but it is certainly no catastrophic threat to society to have them out of jail. It is unclear whether the judge is using the hate crimes law or something else to enforce these ridiculous bail decisions. It is obvious to every child who is watching that society will treat them like thugs to be looked up than actual human beings. They are guilty until proven innocent. And we wonder why society is raising such dysfunctional adults.

Bambenek also points his readers to The Wild Issue, a web site where, surprisingly, writers also think the girls may have treated too harshly.

Any thoughts from readers?