US man and Brit teen convict indicted over school bomb threat spree

You've got to be confident going up against somebody like Krebs. Maybe a bit too confident in their case/

Why do they always give themselves such kitsch names

If I was to form a collective of internet mischief makers i would call it

The Bastard Squad

or

Team WankForce

Who/what created these people?

They are just one or two in a crowd of criminal idiots that we see around the place these days ... where did they come from? What makes people think that they can get away with this kind of stupidity? I think that our education system and society are to blame - education is just about "passing tests and making the grade" these days, morals, right, and wrong play no part in it while society thinks that Austerity is a blessing and will provide a huge bonus without causing any harm. The British ruling class had the same basic education and training as the criminals - we're just getting what we paid for.

Grand jury

I can't help getting a bit of a northern feel whenever I hear that term.

"Eee, this jury's just grand Gromit. Pass the Wensleydale lad."

the grand jury system

There's a reason why the grand jury system is enshrined in the US constitution - specifically in the Fifth Amendment, part of the Bill of Rights. As Gareth wrote, it has its origins in English Common Law (specifically in Henry II's transfer of power to royal courts and in Magna Carta); but its deployment in the US had a somewhat different purpose.

In principle, grand juries offer an important check on prosecutorial power. That's why they have investigatory powers - so that the members of the grand jury can determine whether prosecution is legitimate, or a case of overreach, political oppression, personal vendetta, subornation, etc.

Unfortunately, in practice, statistics show that grand juries are incredibly unwilling to refuse to indict. In 2010, Federal grand juries returned an indictment in 99.99% of cases. It's just one of many problems with the US prosecution system today; other major ones include the two types of "chickenshit prosecutions", the trend for the various state's-attorney offices to serve as stepping stones to other political positions; and extremely excessive sentencing laws passed by cowardly legislators who don't want to be seen as "soft on crime".

The idea of a grand jury system remains a good one, though. Other countries which have dispensed with them aren't necessarily paragons of judicial virtue.