In a state of nature, there is "no arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear, and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short." (Hobbes)

But what does Calvin say?

If anyone hasn't seen the montage of David Caruso's blackout lines while taking off his sunglasses, YOU NEED TO. It is amazing: [link]

ita, I lost my copying of your question to the Caruso link, but I'm not positive. My unresearched answer would probably be that if, by providing the safe deposit numbers you knew the object of the conspiracy was to rob a bank, then yes, it's possible to be charged with felony murder. Aiding and abetting, that I'm not sure about.

Was it Jim Carrey who did the Caruso impression on Letterman?

ETA: Yes, it was!

We become so bent out of shape over something as simple as letting your children out of sight on the playground that it starts seeming on par with letting them play on the railroad tracks at night. In the rain. In dark non-reflective coats.

Uh, I'm not sure letting your kid out of sight on a playground is the same thing as letting a nine-year-old kid loose in New York City. But IANAParent, I guess.

Most of the people I know who grew up here were riding the subway alone by 9 years-old. (Especially if they were attending a school in the opposite direction of both parents' workplaces.)

I can't remember the age at which I was allowed to take the subway alone. Maybe 12?

I took the bus alone much younger than that. It was how I got to/from school.

Justice Department data actually show the number of children abducted by strangers has been going down over the years. So why not let your kids get home from school by themselves?

I dunno. Maybe the number is dwindling because parents pack the pale, fragile little pickles into the bullet-proof SVU and have them tagged with GPS.

Possible.

I took the bus alone much younger than that. It was how I got to/from school.

My sister and I took the city bus to school in elementary school. When we went to a public neighborhood school, we walked by ourselves.

I was allowed out to play alone on our block in Milwaukee when I was probably 5 or so, but I had to be in sight of the house. I could walk alone to the drugstore/movie theater/school starting at 7, I think. All those places were a block or two away in a very nice neighborhood, though, and I wasn't allowed anywhere my parents hadn't said was okay.

I took a public bus to summer camp the summer between 1st and 2nd grades. Granted, the bus was between Somerville and Medford, but still. Once I fell asleep and woke up in Harvard Square!!!11! But it was still OK.

And anyway, that kid was a New York City kid who rides the subway on a regular basis. It's not like some tourist kid who would freak out! He had the tools he needed to get home.

Shit, when I was 12 or 13 (so older than that kid, but not by much), my best friend and I decided the fun way to spend our day was to get on the subway and get off at a stop we'd never been to before!