Teen's Reprieve Suggests Appearances Can be Consequential

Last week, many members of the local criminal justice community celebrated giving a teen arrested on stolen gun charges a rare "second chance." It was a good story, a happy moment and a rare opportunity to pat ourselves on the back for being a compassionate community. A deeper look at the story, however, suggests a much broader message contained in its outcome.

In April, three teenagers were arrested in Sarasota County after they broke into a pawn shop by smashing the window with a rock and stealing four assault rifles and seven handguns from inside. When they were caught, all three had stolen handguns concealed in their waistbands according to the Sarasota County Sheriff's office.

Two boys, 17 and 15, were charged with armed burglary and possession of a concealed firearm. A 15 year-old female, who didn’t go in the store but helped haul off the guns, was charged with principal to armed burglary and possession of a concealed firearm. They were tried as adults, which is not uncommon on such charges.

The girl was sentenced to five years and turned 16 in jail this summer. But a couple of weeks ago, after an impressive amount of effort and cooperation, jail personnel worked with prosecutors and came up with an alternative plan. The state dropped the burglary charge, and the young lady pleaded guilty to the concealed firearm rap. She was transferred to the Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranch and sentenced to juvenile probation until she turns 18.

Let me be clear. I'm not arguing with the outcome, or suggesting that it is not a better alternative to the harsher sentencing that would be common in a case involving breaking and entering and stealing guns. However, I am questioning whether the seemingly extraordinary efforts that were taken to put this girl on a better path would have occurred had it not been for the fact that she didn't fit the generic profile, which is to say she was a cute, petite, blonde haired, blue-eyed, white girl, with cherub cheeks and a baby face that in her mug shot, calls to mind a toy doll.

A story in the Herald Tribune last week kept quoting jail personnel and others involved in the process, noting that she didn’t seem to fit and appeared particularly vulnerable. Again, this all seems true but may say much about the lens through which we view such issues. Had the young lady been a broad shouldered, dark skinned and African-American who looked a couple of years older rather than younger than her age, would she have been as likely to catch so many eyes and appear so out of place?

Those traits certainly would have made her statistically more common in just about any American detention center. But would she therefore have been less likely to have been singled out for the special help that will undoubtedly give her a second chance in life, after demonstrating extremely poor judgement and participating in a crime that could have had horrific consequences?

Rather than focus on what may have happened to the guns had the criminals not been caught–ie. they could have been used in a school shooting like Columbine or Sandy Hook, sold to or otherwise fell into the hands of other criminals who used them in armed robberies, murders or other heinous crimes–the story was instead framed as kids doing something very stupid but without any real danger having come of it. The fact that the girl didn’t actually go into the pawn shop when they took the guns, but rather stood outside while they did, and that she "cooperated with the investigation“ were raised as valid reasons the sentence may have been too harsh.

Again, I ask, had it been three African-American males from Newtown, rather than three white kids from Venice, would the same considerations be seen as mitigating factors? The statistics suggest not. Instead, I have a feeling that the criminal justice community (and the rest of us) would have pointed to the horrific labor day shootings of two Palmetto boys who were murdered with a handgun and congratulated ourselves on getting dangerous criminals off of the street.

Also, how many other young Americans have had their lives destroyed and become part of the recidivism-riddled cycle of prison and poverty for crimes that didn’t involve dangerous weapons, namely non-violent drug offenders, often busted for possessing small amounts of illegal narcotics? Too often, and especially when they lack the resources to afford a good legal defense, those criminals are pressured into accepting stiff plea deals against the threat of harsher penalties if convicted at trial.

Once more, I am not arguing that the action taken in this girl’s case, shouldn’t have been. Florida Sheriffs Ranches is a good program and a viable alternative to putting someone into the system in a more aggressive way. The latter is more likely to set them on the cycle of criminality that is too often perpetuated by being labeled a convicted felon and enduring the brutal realities of daily life as an incarcerated prisoner at such an early stage.

I am instead asking whether this case demonstrates the biases that the majority of people in our society bring to discussions about who should be shown leniency and who should be dealt with harshly. In light of the recent rash of police brutality against African American citizens suspected of crimes, I’d challenge us to ask ourselves what outcomes like this say to the parents of black children who have not benefited from such kind hands in our criminal justice system, the ones who are endlessly voicing the cry that we demonstrate that Black Lives Matter?