Slog - Comments on If Prosecutors Had Their Way, Teen Shot At Garfield High School Would've Been in Jail

Comment by rtm

rtm — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 08:15:09 -0800

nice. why bother with judges at all, if they are just supposed to do what prosecutors tell them to do. since the stranger is such a fan of forcing credulous hacks to present both sides of the story, why doesn't your crack staff go review the court file to determine what factors judge schapira might have considered on the side of not throwing this kid in jail. you might even try to look up the relevant sentencing standards.

it's aleays easy to say you would have done it different. it's harder to make the decisions every day.

Comment by AJ

AJ — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 08:19:11 -0800

Coleman cradling a handgun, along with pictures of stacks of cash, drugs and a pit bull and references to the Bloods street gang.

Where's Dan?

Comment by thewalrus

thewalrus — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 08:23:33 -0800

with all due respect, the councilmember is on crack. There are 100s and 100s of gang members in seattle. the problem is endemic now, due to the city gradually pulling funding out of gang prevention programs over the years. the mayor's new initiative actually cuts in half the funding for the main gang prevention program, Seattle Team for Youth. oh, and by the way, what case management remains will actually be gone for 6 months while the program is retooled, so look for 500 kids to be on the streets for six months starting in january. I agree with the first poster on this, why don't you do some reporting on this beyond a blog post? this really is a story of the city screwing things up and then trying to cover over their own mistakes by moving a bunch of money around (there's almost no new $ in the Initiative). seems like an interesting story in there. or you can wait for the Times to do it poorly.

Comment by Matthew

Matthew — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 08:26:08 -0800

The kid is innocent. I blame the pit bull.

Comment by Sandy

Sandy — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 08:26:37 -0800

I work in the juvenile court system. This argument is used all the time and it is complete bullshit. That kid would have been safe in jail except the judge let him go and now he's dead!

We don't lock kids up in juvenile detention to keep them safe from being shot. We don't lock them up to punish them either, that's what adult criminal court is for. We lock them up to change their behaviors. Study after study has shown that locking them up does nothing to change their behaviors, so a lot of judges are now opting for different approaches, such as requiring the children to access services to help them address the root of their behavioral problems.

It is a tragedy that this young man was shot. It does not mean we need to lock more kids up.

Comment by Mr. Poe

Mr. Poe — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 08:29:58 -0800

I don't know. Seems like a fitting end to me. You can have this model, or he could grow a little older and be the one doing the shooting.

Comment by todd

todd — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 08:31:36 -0800

I hate parents. And grandparents.

Comment by Trevor

Trevor — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 08:37:31 -0800

WTF, Jonah?

Is it his fault he was shot? If you think jail is a place where youth are reformed and "receive treatment", you're extremely ignorant. If you have evidence that proves that putting youth behind bars for long sentences "prevents youth crime", rather than taking them out of school and making it harder for them to reintegrate into society, maybe you should share it with us? The implication you play with-- that jail isn't just for people who commit crime, but also to keep people safe and prevent them from being victims of crime-- is chilling.

How did your good reporting on police accountability morph into this sensationalistic crime beat crap? This is actually WORSE than mainstream media coverage.

Comment by Sandy

Sandy — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 08:46:21 -0800

Mr. Poe: Most of these kiddos don't grow up to be criminals. I always say they are assholes with a 15 year olds' self control, and they grow up to be assholes with a 25 year olds' self control, and that usually works out okay for them.

Comment by Mr. Poe

Mr. Poe — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 09:03:48 -0800

Oh, so we should just deal with it until they're older and hope they're one of the "most." Glad you're working in the system. M-hm.

Comment by Justy

Justy — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 09:26:06 -0800

Judges in this town are wusses...commit any crime you want and as long as you're a juvenile you can get away with it. Time to treat criminal teens just like adults. That would fix the problem fast. It's the only issue that makes me regret voting a straight Democratic ticket.

Comment by MARIO SHINAULT

MARIO SHINAULT — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 21:53:10 -0800

MAN I CANT BELIEVE SOME OF THE THINGS THAT ARE COMING OUT OF U GUYS MOUTHS. MAN QUINCY WASNT A BAD KID AT ALL, EVEN THROUGH IM ONLY 18 I KNEW HIM SINCE HE WAS LITTLE AND FOR U GUYS TO SAY SOME BULLSHIT LIKE THAT. ALL ITS DOING IS MAKING IT WORSE. NOBODY KNEW THAT HE WAS GOING TO GET SHOT AND FOR U GUYS TO SAY HE WOULD STILL BE ALIVE IF HE WAS LOCKED UP. MAN ANYBODY CAN GET SHOT AT ANY GIVEN TIME.