A few weeks ago, William Bouvay Jr. was sentenced to 24 years in prison without the possibility of parole or probation. His crime: calling in the fake bomb threat that caused mass confusion on LSU’s campus September 17, 2012.
For all the freshmen and everyone living under large rocks, here’s a breakdown of the events that followed that day. After Bouvay called 911 at 10:32 a.m. and made his threat, within 10 minutes LSU’s mass emergency phone system had sent out the text telling everyone to evacuate campus “as calmly and quickly as possible.”
Telling 30,000 people to evacuate with no instructions on how to do so efficiently naturally caused the student body to become a large stampede of confused cattle with one motive – to get off campus in whatever way possible.
Once we move on from the call itself, we can address the other big issue that caused the mass disarray.
LSU’s only existing plan for a complete campus evacuation was police officers directing traffic and the emergency text system. Seeing as many cars were sitting in traffic for 80 minutes after the bomb threat, this plan is in need of some improvement. Had the bomb threat been real, the people stuck in traffic would have been sitting ducks.
So for causing a full day of slight chaos, bad traffic and an excessive amount of phone calls from terrified parents, this man must now spend the next two decades of his life locked away.
That seems ridiculous and counterproductive. Allowing a man with a troubled criminal past to make amends and give back to the community he affected would be way more beneficial than locking him up.
To put his long sentence in perspective, we need look at other punishments for more severe crimes. Assaulting a pregnant woman and having her pregnancy terminated as a result, which is a class A felony, will get you a mandatory sentencing of 10 years and a maximum of 25. Aggravated sexual assault in the first degree can land you a mandatory five to 20 years in jail, depending on conduct and the victim’s age, and 20 to 25 years max.
This man harmed no one in any way besides emotionally yet his sentencing is equivalent to crimes involving violence and death.
Bouvay is a repeat offender of breaking the law. To be exact, a two-time convicted felon. The fact that he is a habitual offender played into his absurdly long sentencing. This begs one to question the success of his past sentencings and whether they affected his mindset about what he did at all.
This man incited stress and fear in the Baton Rouge community, and for that I think he should be punished in some way. Rather than fighting a negative action with a negative consequence, we should fight a negative action with a positive improvement.
There should be an alternative to a life locked away.
For repeat offenders and troubled law-breakers, there should be a program put in place that aims to actually reach out to these people and make attempts to counsel them.
Such a program could involve partial jail time to appease those who like locking all the bad guys away. Then comes the good stuff. Providing counseling to find out why these people did what they did and trying to help them make more productive and positive decisions in the future. Some people just need someone to listen to their story, and that alone can do a world of good.
Next, throw in some community service. These people upset the community, so give them a chance to apologize and work to improve it.
Sending someone like Bouvay to a jail cell to rot is a waste of a life and a waste of human potential.
Call me a dreamer, but everyone has it in them to do good for the world. Sometimes all they need is a guiding hand and the chance at forgiveness.
Mariel Gates is a 19-year-old graphic design sophomore from Baton Rouge.