This month’s NSA scandals alone were enough to fill several Furious columns, but with Snowden hogging the front page we looked around for something less obvious for this month’s Furious. It didn’t take long to find it.
From the bankers 
who plundered our economy to the politicians who turned us into a torture state to the sports stars who rape and murder with impunity, there’s no shortage of serious crimes and serious criminals in our society. Although their crimes may be obvious it’s just as obvious that they’re not being punished; a fact not lost on the general population.
People still cling to the idea that criminality should be punished, and if they don’t see that principle applied in the larger society they try to apply it locally. Sometimes they can get carried away, and the results can destroy lives. This month we bring you several stories of little people being caught up in the wheels of justice; being punished harshly for small infractions. Some are innocent and some are guilty, but from school suspensions to federal prisons they’re stories of big guns used to go after mosquitoes. And a system of crime and punishment that can allow stories like this to happen? Why, that’s enough to make you Furious!
Individual egregiousness… 
Girl arrested for using perfume
Man faces prison for writing on Bank of America with chalk
Three strikes law puts man in prison for life for stealing underwear and lighters
Kiera Wilmot: How Her Arrest and Expulsion Exposes America’s Racial Discipline Gap
Texas Teenager Diane Tran Jailed for Working Hard
Girl handcuffed for doodling on desk
Student arrested for burping, lawsuit claims
Boy suspended from school for using the word ‘gun’
School Guards Break Child’s Arm And Arrest Her
Ten worst sentences for marijuana-related crimes
The Bigger Picture…
“Why did you shoot me? I was reading a book”: The new warrior cop is out of control
An Insult To Justice: Large Sentences For Small Crimes
The Eighth Amendment: When is a sentence disproportionate?
Seven Crimes That Will Get You a Smaller Fine than File-Sharing
Decades On, Stiff Drug Sentence Leaves A Life ‘Dismantled’
UPDATE 1/9/2014
The irresponsible treatment of normal (if rowdy) student behavior as crime has been getting more attention. This article from Moyers and Company scratches the surface of how arresting students for dress code violations can be a bad thing.
UPDATE 4/7/2014
Ana Kasparian of The Young Turks nails the whole “zero tolerance” problem in a case of a girl who shaved her head in support of a cancer-stricken friend, and was expelled.
