Thread: Judge orders Utah mom to chop off daughter’s ponytail in courtroom

I thought some of you guys might find this interesting.

Personally, I'm a bit shocked by the entire incident. To me, it's more than a little disturbing that this brat is running lose in society. Equally disturbing is that her Mom thinks that the punishment was too harsh. Wow, really?!

And apparently the daughters behavioral issues are not limited to arbitrarily abusing younger kids. Kinda gives one pause to wonder what other things may never have been caught or reported, by this obviously troubled little deviant.

What should be done with children like this one?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"A Utah judge told the mother of a 13-year-old girl who chopped off a toddler's long hair in a restaurant that he would reduce her daughter's sentence if she cut off the teenager's own ponytail in court.

District Juvenile Judge Scott Johansen gave Valerie Bruno the option to either cut off her daughter Kaytlen Lopan's long hair "right now" with courtroom scissors or have the teen spend an extra 150 hours in detention as punishment for hacking off the locks of a 3-year-old girl she befriended in a McDonald's in Price."

~ Judge orders Utah mom to chop off daughter’s ponytail in courtroom ~

Originally Posted by Angedras

I thought some of you guys might find this interesting.

Personally, I'm a bit shocked by the entire incident. To me, it's more than a little disturbing that this brat is running lose in society. Equally disturbing is that her Mom thinks that the punishment was too harsh. Wow, really?!

And apparently the daughters behavioral issues are not limited to arbitrarily abusing younger kids. Kinda gives one pause to wonder what other things may never have been caught or reported, by this obviously troubled little deviant.

What should be done with children like this one?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"A Utah judge told the mother of a 13-year-old girl who chopped off a toddler's long hair in a restaurant that he would reduce her daughter's sentence if she cut off the teenager's own ponytail in court.

District Juvenile Judge Scott Johansen gave Valerie Bruno the option to either cut off her daughter Kaytlen Lopan's long hair "right now" with courtroom scissors or have the teen spend an extra 150 hours in detention as punishment for hacking off the locks of a 3-year-old girl she befriended in a McDonald's in Price."

~ Judge orders Utah mom to chop off daughter’s ponytail in courtroom ~

Cut off her hair and give her 150 hours detention.

I am curious as to who was supervising this girl while at the restaurant. Was her Mom there?

As for action from the court. I think the court should have ordered a psychological evaluation of the kid. To be followed by counseling if deemed necessary by the evaluation.

just a thought

Originally Posted by Angedras

I am curious as to who was supervising this girl while at the restaurant. Was her Mom there?

As for action from the court. I think the court should have ordered a psychological evaluation of the kid. To be followed by counseling if deemed necessary by the evaluation.

just a thought

I read this story yesterday and from what I understood, the 3 yr old was w/family relatives - not mom - and the 2 girls, 11 and 13 knew the people and befriended the little girl. The story didn't go into detail, but they must have taken the child to the play section, out of sight of the adults.... just a guess, but can't imagine they'd cut the hair in sight of the adults who were in charge of the child and would get by w/it.....

I loved the judge's order for both girls to have a hair cut... very fitting - served them right! The ballsy nerve for 2 snot-nosed brats to decide someone's 3 yr old needed a hair cut speaks volumes of pampering parents....

I agree that these kids should be evaluated and get counseling.... the mother of the 13 yr old confirmed that when she whined about the judge's ruling... "an eye for an eye isn't any way to teach a child right from wrong"..... in some cases, sure it is and this is a good example.....

Seems a fair ruling to me. Props to the judge for doing something that might actually make her think next time before she does something stupid.

From the article...

Kaytlen also admitted to charges in another case rising from eight months of phone calls she made to a Colorado teen that included threats of rape and mutilation

This girl is mentally ill.

Charge her with felony assault..as an adult and see how she does in an adult prison environment for 30 days.

Let's be real here...she's going to wind up there anyway.

We need to start locking up these psycho juveniles as adults or we'll have another Columbine or Virginia Tech on our hands.

Being lenient and providing counseling is not the solution; they get off their meds and start to victimize innocent people.

Lock them up to protect society.

The age of reason for normal human beings is 7 years old. At this age a person understands right and wrong, and the consequences of one's actions.

This was a PREMEDITATED act, she took the time to buy the scissors, walk back and cut the toddler's hair.

What's next? stabbing a toddler, not just cutting hair.

She harrassed another teen for 8 months of phone calls with threats of rape and mutiliation.

How long before she acts on impulses more violently?

"Oh she's just a child"

Horse hockey...

Originally Posted by Herkdriver

From the article...


This girl is mentally ill.

Charge her with felony assault..as an adult and see how she does in an adult prison environment for 30 days.

Let's be real here...she's going to wind up there anyway.

We need to start locking up these psycho juveniles as adults or we'll have another Columbine or Virginia Tech on our hands.

Being lenient and providing counseling is not the solution; they get off their meds and start to victimize innocent people.

Lock them up to protect society.

The age of reason for normal human beings is 7 years old. At this age a person understands right and wrong, and the consequences of one's actions.

This was a PREMEDITATED act, she took the time to buy the scissors, walk back and cut the toddler's hair.

What's next? stabbing a toddler, not just cutting hair.

She harrassed another teen for 8 months of phone calls with threats of rape and mutiliation.

How long before she acts on impulses more violently?

"Oh she's just a child"

Horse hockey...

I forgot about that part of threatening another teen.... yeah, you're right - she definitely is mentally disturbed and even that didn't give mommy a clue about what she's raising...

Originally Posted by Hummingbird

I forgot about that part of threatening another teen.... yeah, you're right - she definitely is mentally disturbed and even that didn't give mommy a clue about what she's raising...

I realize, cutting a toddler's hair is not in and of itself a predictor of violent behavior...however often times we tend to look at young teens as holy innocents incapable of heinous acts...

I beg to differ...

Perhaps if we get tough at the earliest signs of trouble, we can prevent an escalation of more serious acting out.

15-year-old Alyssa Bustamante of Jefferson City, Missouri killed her 9-year-old neighbor Elizabeth Olten because "she wanted to know what it felt like."

Bustamante disturbingly described how she strangled the young girl, then stabbed her in the chest and slashed her throat at hearing today.

Ugh. It was so hard just type those words out.

Before a judge, Bustamante admitted to the Oct. 21, 2009 killing, replying, "Yes," when the judge asked her if she understood that she was giving up her right to a trial. Then, she was asked to describe what happened.

"I strangled her and stabbed her in the chest," she told the judge.

"Did you cut her throat too?” the judge asked.

"Yes," Bustamante responded.

Originally Posted by Herkdriver

From the article...


This girl is mentally ill.

Charge her with felony assault..as an adult and see how she does in an adult prison environment for 30 days.

Let's be real here...she's going to wind up there anyway.

We need to start locking up these psycho juveniles as adults or we'll have another Columbine or Virginia Tech on our hands.

Being lenient and providing counseling is not the solution; they get off their meds and start to victimize innocent people.

Lock them up to protect society.

The age of reason for normal human beings is 7 years old. At this age a person understands right and wrong, and the consequences of one's actions.

This was a PREMEDITATED act, she took the time to buy the scissors, walk back and cut the toddler's hair.

What's next? stabbing a toddler, not just cutting hair.

She harrassed another teen for 8 months of phone calls with threats of rape and mutiliation.

How long before she acts on impulses more violently?

"Oh she's just a child"

Horse hockey...

I am sorry, but that is absolute nonsense. A 7 year olds brain is not even close to being fully developed, and most importantly the frontal lobe which governs "the ability to recognize future consequences resulting from current actions, to choose between good and bad actions (or better and best), override and suppress unacceptable social responses, and determine similarities and differences between things or events" doesn't finish developing fully until a person is in young adulthood. In many people it doesn't finish developing until 25 or so.

http://www.indranet.org/frontal-lobe...echnology-use/


So to imagine that people whose brains aren't developed, should be held accountable as adults, when they are provably NOT adults is ridiculous. Their lack of adulthood is proved by their undeveloped brain. People CAN change when those areas of their brains DO develop. So holding small children accountable for the stupid things they do, is itself stupid. Since we understand they are not in possession of a fully functioning mature brain, and that will only come later in life.

Originally Posted by frodly

I am sorry, but that is absolute nonsense. A 7 year olds brain is not even close to being fully developed, and most importantly the frontal lobe which governs "the ability to recognize future consequences resulting from current actions, to choose between good and bad actions (or better and best), override and suppress unacceptable social responses, and determine similarities and differences between things or events" doesn't finish developing fully until a person is in young adulthood. In many people it doesn't finish developing until 25 or so.

http://www.indranet.org/frontal-lobe...echnology-use/


So to imagine that people whose brains aren't developed, should be held accountable as adults, when they are provably NOT adults is ridiculous. Their lack of adulthood is proved by their undeveloped brain. People CAN change when those areas of their brains DO develop. So holding small children accountable for the stupid things they do, is itself stupid. Since we understand they are not in possession of a fully functioning mature brain, and that will only come later in life.

Please tell that Liberal hogwash to the victim.

12 year old charged as adult with 1st degree murder.
http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2...murder-brother

11 year old babysitter who killed 2 year old may be charged as adult.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_1...09-504083.html

Under Colorado law, the youngest age at which a child may be tried as an adult is 12, if
the child is alleged to have committed a class 1 or 2 felony or a crime of violence and the
juvenile court transfers the case to the district court

Legal definiition of age or reason.

The age at which a child is considered capable of acting responsibly.

Under Common Law, seven was the age of reason. Children under the age of seven were conclusively presumed incapable of committing a crime because they did not possess the reasoning ability to understand that their conduct violated the standards of acceptable community behavior. Those between the ages of seven and fourteen were presumed incapable of committing a crime, but this presumption could be overcome by evidence, such as the child having possession of the gun immediately after the shooting. The rebuttable presumption for this age group was based on the assumption that, as the child grew older, he or she learned to differentiate between right and wrong. A child over the age of fourteen was considered to be fully responsible for his or her actions. Many states have modified the age of criminal responsibility by statute.

All states have enacted legislation creating juvenile courts to handle the adjudication of young persons, usually under eighteen, for criminal conduct rather than have them face criminal prosecution as an adult. However, a child of thirteen who commits a violent crime may be tried as an adult in many jurisdictions.

Save that liberal tripe....

All that matters is the law...and legally in many States this 13 year old could be charged with felony assault against the 3 year old.

Depends on the prosecutor, but there is no legal reason to prevent it.