The LA Weekly has been following a story that questions the purpose and notion of “justice” in America. Zealous charges brought by the L.A. County District Attorney have destroyed Jeremy Marks’ life:

The first thing to understand is that Jeremy Marks touched no one during his “attempted lynching” of LAUSD campus police officer Erin Robles.

The second is that Marks’ weapon was the camera in his cell phone.

The third is that Officer Robles’ own actions helped turn an exceedingly minor wrongdoing — a student smoking at a bus stop — into a state prison case.

Marks, 18, has been sitting in Peter Pitchess Detention Center, a tough adult jail, since May 10. Bail was set at $155,000, which his working-class parents can’t pay.

The altercation was not pleasant and Robles and Marks (both fueled by adrenaline, I propose) are guilty of arrogance. But such involved inescapable legal proceedings? The juggernaut of procedure has pummeled common sense on this one.

Found via Discarted, who asks, “How does a situation where a campus police officer reprimands a high school kid for smoking escalate into a felony charge and a possible seven-year jail sentence for another?”