Jeff Duncan: “the terrible tragedy of the school shootings 2 days ago in California should be, and I believe is, of great concern to…”

“the terrible tragedy of the school shootings 2 days ago in California should be, and I believe is, of great concern to all Americans. There are many reasons why these horrible crimes are being committed in several places by teenage boys, but I want to mention two major concerns I have. I was a criminal court judge in Tennessee for 7 rac{1}{2}\ years before coming to Congress trying felony criminal cases. I was told the first day that I was judge that 98 percent of the defendants in felony criminal cases came from broken homes. I know that millions of wonderful people have come from broken homes, but almost all would say that family breakups made their childhoods much more difficult. I know, too, that divorce is now a tragedy that has touched almost every family, and I know that many times it cannot be avoided. But I do not know of anyone who hoped beforehand that their marriage would end in divorce. During my years as a judge, I went through approximately 10,000 cases, because 97 percent or 98 percent of the defendants pled guilty and apply for probation or other considerations. I would get 10-page or 12-page reports that went into the backgrounds and life histories of the defendants before me. I would read over and over and over again things like defendant's father left when defendant was 2 and never returned, or defendant's father left to get a pack of cigarettes and never came back.”