Tough love for cruise ship 'brat'
It's nice to see a parent doing what needs to be done to teach a child a lesson- particularly when their actions have jeopardized the safety of hundreds of others.
LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- The mother of a 20-year-old woman accused of making a terrorist threat aboard a cruise ship said she wouldn't post bail for a "brat" even if a judge had granted it.
"She is going to have to stay in jail and learn her lesson," Debra Ferguson told the Los Angeles Times. "This was a big, big problem, and if she has to sit in jail -- oh well. She's going to have to deal with it." ...
The cruise ship Legend of the Seas had been en route from Ensenada, Mexico, when it was diverted April 23 to Honolulu after two threatening notes were found. The notes prompted an FBI search for biological, chemical, radiological and explosive weapons, as well as interrogations of 2,400 crew members and passengers.
Kelley Ferguson, vacationing with her family aboard the ship, was accused of planting the notes so the trip would be cut short and she could get home to her boyfriend. She was charged with two counts of threatening acts of terrorism, and could face as much as 10 years in prison on each charge.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Kevin Chang on Thursday ordered her held without bail.
Her mother said she wouldn't post bail anyway and wasn't going to "risk the rest of my family's life because of a brat."
I applaud Ms. Ferguson for having the courage to stand and deal with the reality of what her daughter did and the danger it posed to her fellow passengers. I wonder how many other parents would do the same?
