American Morning
Making bullies accountable
(CNN) – It appears to be a tragic case of bullying at a Massachusetts high school. Nine teenagers were indicted Monday for allegedly tormenting 15-year-old Phoebe Prince so relentlessly that she committed suicide.
The charges include criminal harassment, stalking, statutory rape and violation of civil rights To dig deeper into the story we were joined on Tuesday's American Morning by Parry Aftab, executive director of Wiredsafety.org.
Nine students arrested for teen's suicide
(CNN) – Nine high school students in western Massachusetts are facing criminal charges for allegedly bullying a 15-year-old classmate so relentlessly she committed suicide.
Prosecutors say plenty of people at the school failed to speak up until it was too late. Our Alina Cho reports on what appears to be another tragic case of bullying where too many people decided to look the other way.
Read more: Teens indicted in alleged bullying death
Militia group was 'preparing for end time battles'
(CNN) – A self-proclaimed Christian militia group that says it's preparing for war with the Anti-Christ is believed to be the target of a series of FBI raids over the weekend.
Federal authorities arrested at least seven people in three states. A member of another militia group says the feds even moved in during a wake for one of the group's members. Our Susan Candiotti has the report.
Read more: 7 arrested after raids in three states
Facebook posting allegedly led to house robbery
(CNN) – Here's a warning about what you post online and how you choose your virtual friends. A couple is learning the hard way that you need to be careful what you reveal.
Keri McMullen, from New Albany, Indiana, posted this innocent-seeming status update last weekend on Facebook: "Heading to the Hill with Kurt... To see Fire Department."
She was headed out to a bar called Phoenix Hill to see a band called Fire Department. The show started at 8. At 8:42, two men broke into Keri's house. The whole thing was caught on camera. She posted some of the pictures online and began to realize that one of the men looked suspiciously like someone who had recently friended her on Facebook.
Keri McMullen and her fiance Kurt Pendleton joined us on Friday's American Morning to share their warning for Internet users.
Growing Up Behind Bars: Life in prison for teens
Editor's Note: The Supreme Court is considering whether life sentences for teenage criminals who haven't committed a homicide is cruel and unusual punishment. Some of the best legal minds in the country have fiercely debated the issue. The one thing they all seem to agree on: there are no easy answers. CNN's Jason Carroll reports for part two of American Morning's original series, "Growing Up Behind Bars."
By Jason Carroll, CNN
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/CRIME/09/09/prison.life.lesson.memoir/art.dwayne.betts.jwilson.jpg.jpg caption="Dwayne Betts was arrested at 16 for a carjacking and spent nearly 9 years in Virginia's adult prisons."]
(CNN) - As Dwayne Betts addressed thousands of students at last year's University of Maryland's commencement ceremonies, his thoughts then and now are of how far he has come in his life, how five years before that moment, he was locked up in prison.
“When I was 16-years-old, on December 7th, 1996, I carjacked a man in a parking lot in Springfield, Virginia … at gunpoint,” says Betts.
At the time, Betts says he was a high school honor student who had fallen in with the wrong crowd.
“I think the truth is sort a strange mix of opportunity. … You don't turn 16 and have a gun in your hand. So I think it was a lot of baby steps.”
It was a major step. Although no one was physically hurt during his crime, Betts was prosecuted as an adult. Carjacking in Virginia carries a maximum sentence of life.
“There's no way to quantify what a life sentence does to a person," he says. "If I had to wake up every morning to a life sentence, I don't even want to imagine what I would have become.”
Betts, at 16, received the minimum sentence, serving nearly nine years in Virginia's adult prison system, living alongside the state's most violent criminals.
Growing Up Behind Bars: Families split over shocking murder
(CNN) – Today we're looking at an unprecedented legal case in New Castle, Pennsylvania.
A 12-year-old boy could end up being the youngest person in the U.S. sentenced to life in prison without parole. He's accused of killing his father's pregnant fiancee.
Only CNN's "American Morning" is talking with both the victim's family and the young boy's family. Our Jason Carroll reports for part one of our series, "Growing Up Behind Bars."
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