more Death of Common Sense

[Buccaneer]

From a column in today's Denver Post

$1 candy theft a misdemeanor?
By Cindy Rodríguez
Denver Post Columnist





This is how absurd zero-tolerance school policies have become: Police charged an 11-year-old Highlands Ranch boy with theft last year for taking a lollipop from a classroom jar. In the 14 months that this case has wound its way through the juvenile court system in Douglas County, thousands of dollars have been spent paying for hours of work by the Sheriff's Department, the district attorney's office, county social workers, and clerks filing the paperwork.

All to teach a boy a lesson.

David Michael Boeke, the kid who was charged, told me he didn't know the lollipops were being sold for $1 to raise money. He thought it was a teacher's way of being nice. Now he has a police record.

If only this were an isolated case.

Last week, The Post ran a front-page article about 15 Adams City High students suspended for a full year for watching a fight.

The suspension came several days before the nonprofit organization Padres Unidos released a study showing a huge increase in the number of Denver Public School students being issued police tickets for minor disobedience problems.

And Thursday I learned why the Denver County Court calls one of its programs "Juvenile Diversion:" It's diverting kids from school.

On a day they should have been in school, a dozen kids were spirited by two county vans from juvenile court to clean city parks in an effort to set them straight.

Can't they perform community service on the weekends so they don't miss school?

Schools have a duty to make sure kids are respectful, but when the system keeps kids out of school or charges 11-year-olds with theft for taking candy, it's time to re-evaluate these draconian policies.

I tried talking to the adults responsible for having David charged with theft in the Great Lollipop Heist, but I couldn't get any to talk to me.

The teacher who pressed charges, Diane Hamulak, last week said she couldn't talk to me without her principal's permission.

The principal of Cresthill Middle School, Sally Stanley, did not return my call. When I talked to Hamulak a day later, she said Stanley was aware that I wanted to speak with the two of them.

Sunday, I finally reached Stanley at home. Her only words to me: "We don't have any comment." Then she hung up.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Byron Jones told me, "Sometimes it is appropriate to charge someone with theft when they've taken something worth $1." But after going through the merits of the case, Jones conceded this much: "Maybe a choice could've been made to do something different."

On Wednesday, after 14 months of wrangling with the juvenile-justice system, paying $500 in court and attorney fees and hours of counseling, David was put on one-year probation. If he's good, the misdemeanor charge will drop from his record.

"The court made us go through family counseling," said David's father, David T. Boeke, a 49-year-old president of a direct-marketing company. "The social worker interviewed us about our family medical history. ... I had to sit there and talk to her about my father's colon cancer."

He said the experience has been surreal. "This is something that should be on the set of 'Saturday Night Live,"' he said.

It would be comical if it weren't true. Isn't justice about having a punishment fit the crime?

Wouldn't it be more fitting to have David wash the teacher's chalkboard for a month, or write an essay about stealing?

Schools throughout the country are abdicating responsibility, handing minor problems to the already overburdened justice system, to send a message to students.

That message: We don't know what justice means.

Cindy Rodríguez's column appears Tuesdays and Thursdays. Contact her at [email protected] or 303-820-1211.

[sabotai]

The teacher who pressed charges, Diane Hamulak

Who will now be refered to as Diane the Bitch.

[cartman]

Is she the same person, or related to the lady in Colorado who sued the girls who left her cookies on her doorstep?

[Karlifornia]

"The court made us go through family counseling," said David's father, David T. Boeke, a 49-year-old president of a direct-marketing company. "The social worker interviewed us about our family medical history. ... I had to sit there and talk to her about my father's colon cancer."

This is so not funny but it made me laugh for some reason. I think it's because I'm sick in the head. The whole story is ludicrous.

[kcchief19]

What tells me that between the minimal facts put forward by the DA and the school and the story of the parents, that the truth lies somewhere in between. Observation and experience suggest there is more to the story.

[terpkristin]

This story reminds me of how I had a probation officer (FEDERAL) for a year for a speeding ticket. Your federal tax dollars hard at work, folks.

(OK, the long and short of the story is that I got busted speeding on a military base and when you try to get the probation before judgement, you have to go to a federal, appointed judge--i.e. no constituents to please. The judge decided that even though my driving record was spotless, because I'd only had my license for 3 years--I was 19 at the time--not 5, that she should teach me a lesson by making me check in with a probation officer for a year. I had monthly meetings with my probation officer, to verify I was keeping my lead foot a little lighter on the pedal, but the worst part was having to call her every time I left the state and when I got back. Living maybe 5 minutes from the MD/DC border, I was going into DC almost daily...THAT was fun. Oh yes, yours and my federal tax dollars working well to keep another youth clean.)

/tk

[JeeberD]

This was Highlands Ranch. Doesn't suprise me one bit...

[wade moore]

He said the experience has been surreal. "This is something that should be on the set of 'Saturday Night Live,"' he said.

I think this is a good summary.

kcchief points out that the story is somewhere in the middle because of the facts from the DA, etc... but where in the DA's statement is the boy's story really contradicted? It sounds like they were trying to make an example of the poor kid and it is ridiculous..

[Alf]

US at its finest !

[CamEdwards]

Originally Posted by Alf

US at its finest !

Yeah, thank goodness France is free of asshats.

Oh wait...

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L04128460.htm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4414619.stm

http://www.dailypennsylvanian.com/vn.../425227ed75db8

[Raiders Army]

What's worse, the teacher who charged the kid or the Principal who let the teacher do it? There were so many failures in common sense that this thread's title is apropos.

[CamEdwards]

Originally Posted by Raiders Army

What's worse, the teacher who charged the kid or the Principal who let the teacher do it? There were so many failures in common sense that this thread's title is apropos.

Or to add to that, the DA's office that decided to prosecute.

[gottimd]

Hopefully Law and Order will make this an episode "Ripped from Today's headlines"

[Subby]

Originally Posted by CamEdwards

Yeah, thank goodness France is free of asshats.

Oh wait...

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L04128460.htm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4414619.stm

http://www.dailypennsylvanian.com/vn.../425227ed75db8

For the love of all that is holy, please tell me you Googled "French Asshats" to get those links...

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by CamEdwards

Or to add to that, the DA's office that decided to prosecute.

Well the teacher DID decide to press charges. If she hadn't, they wouldn't have done so (from the statements in the story, it seems they really didn't want to).

[CamEdwards]

Originally Posted by Subby

For the love of all that is holy, please tell me you Googled "French Asshats" to get those links...

actually I just typed in "France" in a news.google search.

French asshats look like a beret with a sphincter (unbleached, of course) in the middle, btw.

[paperstreetsoap]

Unbelieveable. This kind of thing really bothers me. The kid is 11 and is on probation, he probably doesn't go anywhere but school without his parents. "If he's good for a year..", sheesh. Ridiculous.

[sabotai]

Originally Posted by Alf

US at its finest !

Yup.

[Barkeep49]

I am involved in something called a Peer Jury program in my area. How this works is for certain misdemeanors that for whatever reason don't quite deserve to be prosecuted (for instance we get a lot of underage possession of alcohol) but don't deserve to be let off completely. What happens is these teens, all of whom have admitted guilt, come before a jury of High Schoolers. The High Schools basically grill the kids for 15-20 minutes and then assign a sentence. Sentences normally invovle community service and often times writing a paper. For a case like this I imagine the kid, depending on how remorseful the kid was, would get 5-10 hours of community service and a 1 page (single spaced) paper. The recidivism rate for these type of programs is very low and is a good way to teach a lesson without needlessly clogging up our court systems.

[Galaxy]

Colorado and Florida keep getting stupider every week. Two states I do not want to live in.