Friday, Jul 4, 2008
Is the public tiring of the crackdown on kids?
Mar 3, 2000 | When a 6-year-old boy fatally shot his first-grade classmate this week in a Flint, Mich., school library, the nation was once again rocked by a shocking act of violence committed by a troubled child.
But in the grim, familiar litany of public recrimination -- neglectful parents, overcrowded schools, calloused kids -- there was one surprise: The county prosecutor said right away that the child should not be charged with the crime. "He is a victim in many ways," prosecutor Arthur Busch told the press. "We need to put our arms around him and love him."
Love from prosecutors toward young offenders is scarce these days. It was in Michigan where Nathaniel Abraham was convicted as an adult in the murder, at age 11, of a stranger, sitting in the courtroom at a defense table where his feet couldn't touch the floor. In Northern California, just four years ago, prosecutors in Richmond charged a 6-year-old with attempted murder in the nearly fatal beating of an infant neighbor. Ultimately, the D.A. dropped the charges on grounds that the disturbed boy could not stand trial, but he remains the youngest child ever charged with so serious a crime.
And on the California ballot next week is Proposition 21, a ballot initiative that would make sentences for juvenile offenders over the age of 14 harsher, by giving prosecutors the power to move cases classified as "violent" felonies (such as first degree murder and rape) into adult criminal court. It would also mandate life in prison for teens convicted of "gang-related" home invasion robberies, car-jackings and drive-by shootings.
The proposition reflects the national pendulum swing that has led to kids like Abraham being tried as adults, and many states routinely putting teens in prison with adult criminals. But the pendulum may be swinging back. Polls are showing Prop. 21 is in trouble with voters. In early February, 41 percent of state voters in a Field poll had decided against it, with only 24 percent in favor and 35 undecided.
A more recent poll found somewhat more support for the measure, but it varied enormously depending on how the pollster described the initiative. Even when pollsters used language that focused on stiff punishment for gangs, only 55 percent were in favor. The lack of support for Prop. 21 might indicate that voters are having second thoughts about the lock 'em up approach to crime when applied to kids.
Prop. 21 certainly has a respectable pedigree. It is the brainchild of former California Gov. Pete Wilson, a Republican, and it has the endorsement of current Democratic Gov. Gray Davis and state law enforcement. Wilson was key in passing California's famous "three-strikes-and-you're-out" law, which automatically sentenced third-time felons to 25-years-to-life in prison. A whopping 72 percent of voters approved the three-strikes law.
Compared to three strikes, support for Prop. 21 is relatively low. If it fails, it will be the first major anti-crime initiative to be rejected by California voters. And just as Prop. 13, the property-tax-cutting initiative of 1978 heralded a national tax revolt, it's possible that voters' indifference to Prop. 21 could reflect a weariness with expensive, get-tough solutions to crime -- especially when applied to kids.
"If it gets enough media attention, this could be the first beatable get-tough" proposition, says crime expert Franklin Zimring of the University of California at Berkeley. "The people who usually sit on the sidelines in these kinds of get-tough campaigns" -- including teachers unions, the PTA and the League of Women Voters -- have come out publicly against the initiative, he notes. "There are genuine limits to the gullibility of the California initiative voter that Prop. 21 seems to be ignoring."
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