I know, huge understatement, right?

Posted my first article yesterday on Examiner, under the heading “teen issues” and subbed with “juvenile justice”. The article was entitled, “When should a juvenile be certified to stand trial as an adult?”

The basic premise: in most areas, juveniles are considered adults at age 18; the difference between a crime and a status offense; a very brief description of juvenile facilities. The article went on to say that the judge must consider all aspects of the crime(s) committed, the demeanor of said juvenile, and that, often, a kid is merely slapped on the wrist and returns, over and over, to the court.

Simple, basic, an overview; furthermore, it wasn’t intended to be a news article or an academic treatise, nor was it intended to be a commentary on others’ work. And, in no way was it an endorsement of the current juvenile system – in fact, quite the opposite.

I was very excited to see that there were seven new comments!

Six of them were from someone who used the name “alawyer”. Six. A six-part comment, if you will. Now, my article was about 750 words; his total commentary was over 1000. Unbelievable.

Aside from his username, alawyer, he made ridiculous statements, such as: Robin doesn’t know much about this topic, she gets her information from others who believe the system works; he talked about New York, D.C., and other countries – did I mention this is a location-specific site, which in this case is my location? Certainly not the East Coast or foreign justice systems.

He also apparently considers the Examiner to be a site where writers merely read the work and reports of others and comment on those alone; he obviously has no clue. He stated that he spends a lot of time blogging, and surfing the ‘Net. I wonder when he has time to see clients, or work on their behalf….

Of course, anyone online can call themselves whatever they wish: lawyer, doctor, accountant, and so forth. Hardly anyone will stalk them to find the truth, which is likely what he’s banking on; he can’t spell, punctuate, or capitalize very well either. Especially for one supposedly as well-educated as an attorney.

Ah, well, I suppose there are nutjobs anywhere you care to look, although the Internet seems to be a haven. Likely this guy lives in his parents’ basement and has “researched” a few things that pique his interest from time to time; likely he isn’t a lawyer, or much of anything else. Come to think of it, his commentary reads more like that of a high schooler, trying to be profound and appear adult-like and, naturally, failing miserably.