Good! The little hoodlum should know better.

/crotchety

Seconded

There seems to be a serious lack of respect in a lot of the younger generation. So much so that I would say it is an epidemic.
When I was a teen, there were times that I was disrespectful, sure, but I always knew that I was doing the wrong thing and I never let it get too far. Never in my wildest dreams would I have EVER thought about answering a cell phone (if they were as prominent then) in court. My parents brought me up to say please, thank you, excuse, etc. I am 32 and I am teaching my children the same.

What I wonder is, when did the pattern break? My parents taught me, their parents taught them, so on and so forth. At what point did parents stop teaching their children? Why?

Like Moe said, he should have known better but the sad part is he may not have.

..as well as a misguided sense of self-importance. You're freakin' 17...You don't need to be accessible 24/7, you're only important to your parents. :)

Give me a break - you're asked before a movie to turn off your cell phone. You really think the kid didn't know that the code of conduct/respect in a courtroom would be more stringent than that which is to be followed while watching cinematic mockeries such as Daddy Day Care or The Nutty Professor?

*edit* Just realized that sounded a bit combative. Wasn't at all intended to be! Sorry!

I know.

Consider that last sentence to read: Maybe his parents didn't instill in him the want to give a s**t about anyone but himself.

The kid sounds like a jerk who thinks the whole world revolves around him. He let his phone go off and then answered it and after back-talked the magistrate, I say take his phone, and take him to jail for both contempt of court and burglary. He deserves it.
Every time I've been to a courthouse there are signs EVERYWHERE from the second you enter the door saying to turn off your cell phones. I don't buy that he didn't know, he probably just feels he's more important than anyone else and needs a reality check.

There is no way he couldn't have known that a Cellphone wasn't allowed to be answered in court.

Contemptuous snot probably got reamed pretty good by his lawyer and parents. Judge didn't need to take the phone away, I'm betting that somebody lost some major rights to their phone after that.

Third

I think the pattern broke when it became illegal for parents to backhand their smart-mouthed teenagers across the mouth.