Tattoo Me Stupid

In April of 2009, a California man had his 7 year old son tattooed with a dog paw, a symbol for the Bulldogs, a Fresno street gang. The news was the talk of the town; it was covered by local media and eventually made national news. When the father finally was arrested in May, he faced a life sentence for aggravated mayhem. NPR reports that a judge has dropped the charge of aggravated mayhem, and instead, the father and the tattoo artist "will face the lesser charge of cruel and inhumane treatment of a child," and "with gang enhancements, they face seven years in prison."

Now, I don't know about you, but this information left me baffled! Who in their right mind would think that it's ok to tattoo a child?! I googled "father tattoos son," and believe it or not, this punk is not alone in his disturbing actions! A man in Georgia had his 3 year old tattooed. A woman in Texas had her two children and her little brother tattooed. All of this is disturbing, but the story of the California man is the most disturbing, in my eyes. One, he tattooed a GANG SYMBOL on his 7 year old son! A GANG SYMBOL! Two, his public defender had the audacity to compare what his client did to ear piercing and circumcision! NPR reported: "During questioning Monday of the boy's pediatrician, Nieto [the public defender] raised the issue of other painful and scaring procedures parents subject their children to, such as ear piercing and circumcision." WHAT?! Now, I take issue with parents piercing the ears of infants, but come on! Trying to compare that to the tattooing of a gang symbol on a child... Well, apparently this man is just as much out of his right mind as his client!

Tell me, how do you feel about this?