How Long Should Potential School Shooters Be Kept Behind Bars?

If someone actually carries out a mass shooting, whether at a school or any other place, the decision about what punishment they should receive likely boils down to a choice between the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole. But what should happen to those who threaten to carry out an attack, but are stopped before they put their potential plans into action? 

In the case of one Maryland teen who was found guilty of making a threat of mass violence, the judge wrestled with putting the now-19-year-old in a prison for five years or more, releasing him on probation, diverting him to a “mental health court”, or imposing a sentence that would require some jail time but would keep him out of a prison’s general population. 

“There are no good options in this case,” Maryland Judge Jill Cummins said this week moments before imposing her sentence. “I’m sitting here struggling — and I want to be quite clear, struggling — to determine what is the best outcome. And I have to figure out the best outcome for this community as well as for Mr. Ye.”

By the time Alex Ye was arrested last April, he had spoken repeatedly about his desire to shoot up a school. He had a history of inpatient hospitalizations for mental health treatment. His internet search history included things like “2023 mass shootings” and “how many people did Adam Lanza kill?” 

Ye, however, didn’t possess a firearm when he was arrested, and whether or not he would have actually attempted to carry out his psychotic fantasies is unknowable. Still, Ye was convicted by a judge of making a threat of mass violence, who then had to decide what, exactly, to do with him. 

The debate centered on Ye’s threats aimed at Wootton High School in Montgomery County. Maryland sentencing guidelines, while not binding, suggested setting him free — a calculation based in part on his lack of a previous criminal record and how the crime for which was convicted is classified as a non-felony misdemeanor. Cummins called those guidelines valid for most cases.

“This is not most cases,” she said.

According to the Washington Post, prosecutors told Cummins that the best option would be to sentence Ye to ten years in the Maryland Department of Corrections, with a recommendation from her that Ye should be placed in the Youthful Offender program.

“The youthful offenders program provides what it is that Mr. Ye needs,” Assistant State’s Attorney James Dietrich said in court. “Yes, he is incarcerated. But it is essentially an inpatient treatment program.”

The program generally takes six to eight years to complete, he said, but is designed to give offenders a “soft landing” back into society that can include conditional release. Ye wouldn’t have to serve the full 10 years.

Cummins liked the idea, but was worried that Ye might not be accepted into the program, and his attorneys argued that their client, who was convicted of what’s considered a non-violent crime under Maryland law would be serving time next to hardened criminals convicted of things like armed robbery, rape, and murder. 

Last week the judge basically split the baby; sentencing Ye to a ten-year term, but suspending all but twelve months of the sentence and allowing him to serve his time in the Montgomery County Jail rather than a state prison. If he stays out of trouble he could be released in just a matter of months, though Cummins imposed a requirement that Ye check in with her every two weeks to detail his psychiatric treatment and efforts to become a productive member of society. 

Will a few more months in jail be enough to ensure that Ye doesn’t actually carry out his twisted fantasies once he’s free? Nope, but there are no guarantees that criminals will stay out of trouble once they’ve served their sentence. 

The punishment Cummins imposed seems like a reasonably fair outcome, though I do wonder why Ye hasn’t or won’t be confined to a mental health facility given the struggles he’s had for much of his young life and the ideations of violence that have filled his thoughts. That sounds like an even more appropriate home for him than a jail cell in the D.C. suburbs, but I guess it’s not an option since he was ruled competent to stand trial.