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Miller gets jail for blast that nearly killed a boy

I think back on all the "stupid stuff" I did just messing around. Thank goodness Bridger's life has been spared and thank goodness his family has choosen to take the higher road even though Bridger will never know what it will be like to have a normal life. I believe this will truly be a blessing because they have allowed it to be. It is refreshing to me and helps to restore faith in humanity that they made this choice.

In our litigious world I'm sure there are scores of attorney's licking their chops over this one. I hope they and others in like circumstances can rise above and change what seems to have become the norm.

May we all be more wise in our thoughts and more considerate in our actions.

Pay a debt to society? By keeping him in jail he will not be able to work for these 21 days to help pay off Bridgers medical bills. It's the prosecutors job to make sure he gets jail time, just for the sake of saying he is doing his job.

Everything happens for a reason. I am so glad that both parties can work towards a tomorrow and better themselves. You can't change the past; you can improve the future and the best way to do it is without hate. These people are the BEST examples!

What a sad story but a happy ending for Bridger to be out of the hospital and I hope that he is doing good, What a not so happy ending for Craig Miller after the family pleaded with court people but look what happened, Life's not fair

Man. If we could just be like both of these families--truly penitent when wrong, truly forgiving when wronged.

I am so glad I am not the judge in this case. I wouldn't be able to make a decision. Like the family of the victim said. It was a dumb thing to do. But we all do dumb things.

Most likely he will do nights and weekends in Jail while working to support his family and pay restitution. That would be a fair compromise.

I don't get why they put people in jail for this kind of thing, they need to be working to help pay for thier stupidity. I think the anklet deal for the entire time is the best idea. I am glad that they are only sentencing him to 21 days in jail!
After hearing about this story, I think everyone needs to get an umbrella policy. (An insurance policy that protects you from stupid stuff you do like this.) People are also ignorant with their car insurance plans and their agents give them full coverage for a rediculously small amount like $25,000. These people are underinsured. Find an agent that will automatically cover you for $300,000 to $500,000. It's not much more money than you are already paying and it's safer to be driving on the road. Everybody is going to do something dumb, including while driving.

That's the decision and we all live with it. It could have been years in jail, 21 must certainly be tolerable. Craig's doing all he can to pay for things, living in substandard conditions so Bridger can have what he needs.

Just what you'd expect from the so-called land of the free. Put another poor citizen in the slammer. How much of the U.S. population is in jail? No other country incarcerates as large a percentage as does the U.S. of A. You people are scary. U.S. judges tend to be vindictive, nasty people. Maybe once your government cleans up the rest of the world it can look inward and clean up the mess in your own land.

What do they hope he learns by going to jail? Why do people think that more can be learned in jail than just the natural grief we feel whn we mess up.

Hope all these people will be blessed.

I don't know what's being accomplished by taking this guy out of society for 21 days. Is he going to learn his lesson any more?

His real punishment is the guilt he feels and the money he'll likely be paying to the victim for the rest of his life to help pay for the damage. What more does he deserve than that? That's hefty enough if you ask me.

Is he going to have some epiphany in jail about what he's done that he hasn't had already? He may even come out a worse, more jaded person.

This just seems like an unimaginative punishment that doesn't fit the crime. If we really think he deserves more than what he's gotten already, why not slap him with some community service that would benefit us all?

Whatever...

we all do stupid stuff. In an era where most people try to escape their guilt, or sue for the smallest petty offense, it's so refreshing to see where 2 people understand what it is to feel true remorse, and to ask for and receive forgiveness. Is there a fund anywhere, that people could donate to help Mr. Miller with the restitution? As for being a member of the society to which the owes his "debt", I'd be willing to forgo my portion, and at the same time help out with the nearly 2 million they have in medical bills.

I was so touched by the forgiveness shown by the victim's family, and the humility shown by Mr. Miller in acknowledging his mistake and showing true remorse. Yes, a mistake was made. But wow --- we need more people like this who own up and don't try to hide it, and also those willing to forgive.

AFTER helping Miller evade more serious punishment and AFTER forgiving him and AFTER the sentencing, Bridger and his mother got a big surprise. They had been promised $55,000 from Miller's home sald...but they found out it's been mostly spent already.

Bridger's mother was later offered a very small percentage of the money, as a "settlement".

They are not happy about this, after having worked so hard on Miller's behalf.

(The Deseret News has refused to post my previous message on this topic -- why would that be?)

I think the judge erred. It was a mistake. What about children who eat toxic materials and die. Should parents also be jailed for stupidity?

The device was not a firework. Fireworks are made with paper and cardboard not steel. This man made a bomb plain and simple what purpose could he also have had to make a bomb maybe it was a test bomb and the real target could be at risk by this man. I was in the army and know what makes a bomb. The federal government should have been brought in.

....I will say it again, given the circumstances and obvious behavior of Miller (selling his house) what in the world are the courts/criminal justice system wasting 21 days of jail expenses on this guy for?

Even more of a joke is why we are buying an ankle bracelet to put on him. Ya, this is a serious criminal we all need to track and live in fear of. Pleeez!!

Let the guy get to work helping out the victim and assisting to pay the medical bills. Instead though the decision is to put him in jail and PREVENT him from helping the victim!!

Give him a financial restitution and he is convicted--is there really much purpose in this other garbage???

Duh!!!

What is the judge thinking? A GPS monitoring device and jail time. The remorseful Mr. Miller is not a threat to society, nor is he trying to escape his responsibilities of restitution. Has all common sense been lost from the judicial system?