No Charles, the brat did star the fire. People are responsible for what they actively do. But the restitution order is stupid. Better to have him work a few summers fighting forest fires

Kid still burned down a fucking forest and put tons of peoples life in danger. Deserves every bit of punishment coming his (and his parents) way.

hoo boy. charles is in rare form.

Seriously, you're going with "Society made him do it?" You're forgetting that society (a woman) saw him throwing the fireworks off, told him how dangerous and stupid that was, and he kept throwing fireworks. During the blazing heat in a dry spell at the end of August.
You're also omitting some key aspects of the sentencing.
After 10 years of payments any remaining debt will be forgiven.
He will have to do 1,920 hours of community service with the forest service.

Pure madness? Really? Given the very specific dollar amounts listed, I would have to say it appears the value of the destruction is in point of fact quite actually calculable.

And I'm pretty sure "society is to blame!" hasn't been a credible legal defense since Clarence Darrow managed to pull it off in the Leopold and Loeb trial back in 1924.

"As part of his ruling, the judge also said "the court can grant a full or partial satisfaction of the restitution judgment after 10 years" if the teen has successfully completed probation, doesn't commit additional offenses and complies with the payment plan."

So, they can't even identify him, only calling him "The Teen" because he's a juvenile, yet the judge is ordering him to continue payments after he becomes an adult.

Punishing a juvenile as an adult and at the same time still treating him as juvenile with regards to his name.

What a totally fucking inconsistent and idiotic society we live in.

He's a fucking child. Children cannot be punished as adults. If we want to say he's responsible enough to know what he's doing and thus must be treated as a responsible adult in the criminal justice system, then children must be allowed to give legal consent, allowed to vote, to drink, to smoke, to drive.

Either they're children or they're not... make up your fucking mind America and stick with it!

What a bunch of hooey.

After reading enough of the article to realize that it was never going to start making sense, I finally looked at the top to see who had written it.

Imagine my surprise.

/s

And too, also: the judge wasn't (was he?) trying to put a price on photosynthesis, but rather on the cost of fighting or dealing with the fire. I would imagine that questions like "how much does that flame retardant cost per pound? How many pounds were used? How much was spent on airplane fuel?" and so on, have actual answers.

Also much damage to the built environment is still being repaired this summer. Roads, bridges, structures, etc. Much of the scenic trail through the gorge is closed, which will have impacts on tourism dependent towns like Cascade Locks. These all have a cost associated. But maybe we shouldn't blame the kid. Maybe there's a bigger context. Or maybe this is just an example of how if you fuck up badly enough when you're young, you're gonna spend the rest of your life living it down. A summer delivering coffee to forest fire fighters would be a good start.

@6:

He was charged, but I don't believe he was tried (although he was of course sentenced), as back in February he confessed to starting the fire. Also, apparently under OR law the presiding judge was required to order restitution for the full amount of damages, even if they clearly exceed his ability to repay. However, according to the updated article in the Oregonian the kid has some potential mitigation in that the judge will have to appoint someone to develop a payment plan over time, and those payments could stop after 10 years if he keeps to the schedule, completes probation, and doesn't re-offend.

@1, @2, @5 &@11, and @10: Agreed, and well said. Good suggestion to have the punk do community service as a forest firefighter. Maybe if he sees his own life possibly at risk because of someone's carelessness, it'll be a wake up call to the heinous crime he himself willfully committed against nature and humanity.

I see where you are going Charles, but I don't think the judge was trying to put a cosmic value on the forest. The $21 million was the actual cost of the USFS battling the fire.

Wait, is that what "Dream of the Red Chamber" is about?

@14: no. Jia Rui isn't even a minor character, let alone a main one. It is a very very rude book though. It makes Portnoy's Complaint look like The Cat In The Hat.

I thought the kid was from Washington.

Things I've Learned About Charles Thanks To This Article:

His trolling efforts need a lot of work. This need for improvement is like the value of photosynthesis: vast and approaching unknowable.
He doesn't seem to understand the connection between paying people to put out fires vs. just letting the fire tucker itself after its enjoyed its big ragey tantrum.

Several people on the trail where he started this fire saw him and his friends fucking around with fireworks and asked this gaggle of unsupervised asshole idiots to stop. When they didn't, they went running for help but the fire had already started by then.

I'm pretty sure that the sagacious tale of Jia Rui and his eternal cum shot was chambered up long ago and finally crowbarred into this story, when no other opportunity presented itself.
If in the event anyone ever sets fire to your home, Charles, just let us know so we can sagely nod and shrug in response since there's no point in putting a price tag on that loss, either, I guess.

ignorant take imho, apparently the author didn't read too much into the actual facts of the sentencing... if he makes payments on time and keeps out of trouble for 10 years the rest will be forgiven.... I love how ignorant assholes think they know everything, but simple research would have gone a long way...

Not to mention, he's an idiot, the damage is calculable, saying its in flux and therefore uncalculable is like saying you can't calculate your income based on interest because its fluctuates, give me a break.... and lets break down the argument of his last paragraph and apply it to the school shootings... so in his logic, we can't blame the people shooting up schools because its a symptom of today's society, and they are just animals or products of today's problems.

I almost can't stop laughing and how absurd this idiot is....

It reminds me of the middle ages when they might put a goat or a dog on trial for witchcraft, and sentence it to burn at the stake, as punishment, and a warning to others. Literal scapegoat.

As in the witch trials, the point is to put an individual face on our problems, rather than face up to the man made climate change and short sighted land management that has caused the record-breaking wildfires we have across the West now.

America is bound and determined to become the dumbest empire in world history, and die of stupidity.

Anyone remember what the fine was for the firefighters that iintentionally started massive PNW forest fires so they could get overtime pay?

“If a society has a relationship with nature that is, for the most part, dismissive and exploitative, then how do we expect its young to act?”

My God, there’s a nugget.

And as Martin said, WE are the greatest threat to Peace on the Planet (bring back the Department of Defense!); how the fuck can we not expect our progeny to reflect that right back at us, sometimes even with easily-obtainable, highly-capable-of-massive-fucking-destruction weapons, ‘normalized’ through War oh and, of course, brought to you Live! by the Nationalists' Rifle Association.

Patriarchy’s gotta GO.
Or we will.
Make this the Year of Women, women.
We could use a little Sanity round here.

“Jia Rui eventually dies from the excessive discharge of semen.”

omg – I had no idea.
I’ve gotten lite-headed more than once.
Do I need more yoghurt in my diet?

" I love how ignorant assholes think they know everything, but simple research would have gone a long way..."

Being ignorant makes one an asshole?
Does having a differing point of view make one an asshole?
Does it take an asshole to know an asshole?
Does a having a very large arsenal make one a better humane being?

Charles’s recent articles have all featured the depth and integrity of endlessly ejaculating in one’s pants.

“I am a student of economics but do not believe social costs can be estimated.”

“I respect the environment but reject judicial decisions that enforce its protection.”

“I am a nuanced and moral philosopher but see equivalence between burning down 48,000 acres of forest and driving a car.”

@23,

Inconsistency is a major pet peeve of mine. I try to spot it and eliminate it when I do it myself. I expect others to do the same. Unfortunately, humanity consistently fails to live up to its already low standards.

Our criminal justice and legal system should be as rock solid as possible when it comes to consistency, yet it fails again and again.

Teenagers are told they aren't mature or responsible enough to drink, or vote, or fuck... and then, when they do something immature and irresponsible, they're told they're going to be tried as adults because they're supposed to be mature and responsible.

Well, which is it? Are they mature and responsible or not?

Wonderful, Charles.

He'd be better off if he'd have just shot a bunch of people in the park. The fine would be less, he'd have the entire NRA on his side, and there would be at least a half-dozen GoFundMe-s started to help pay his bill.

@6 bravo. everyone is so quick to discard their principles the second they feel outrage. I guess that's the point of "outrage culture" in that literally expressions of outrage - not just limited to web forums, but actual judicial rulings - takes more precedence than things like "constitutionality", "the rule of law" or "basic fairness". Great world we're creating here!

I know a hung-over, hurried-up column when I see one. You OK, Charles? @1, right. A couple summers on a hand line and this kid will never go near a fireworks stand again.

He was a Washington state resident who came to Oregon with illegal fireworks and lot the forest in fire with his friends while laughing. When approched by a concerned member of society and they laughed at her. So she called the fire department...his parents sped away from the parking lot...later to turn himself in because of a multi layered reason, including community outrage. You can spout about society but there are also just assholes in this world (yes, even teenagers) and he's one that got caught...by us...society.

Summer is coming up. He might want to start putting in his job application at the Dairy Queen.