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Juvenile
courts should not replace parents
Jamie
Rowe
Maribel
Cuevas escaped jail time Aug. 3 for a
felony charge of assault with a deadly
weapon after throwing a two-pound rock
at Elijah Vang. Instead, she has to meet
with the “victim” and discuss
the incident.
No big deal, right? Actually, Cuevas is 11 and Vang is 8.
When Vang hit Cuevas with a water balloon in April, she responded by throwing
a rock at him, cutting his forehead. The resulting injury required stitches.
Aside from their ages, the manner in which the police handled the case is also
shocking.
According to Yahoo! News, “Police responded with three cars while a helicopter
hovered overhead.”
While cops provide a valuable service and risk their lives every day to protect
their communities, it makes me wonder, what were they thinking in this situation?
It seems a bit much for a small child; maybe the cops were afraid she’d
throw a rock at them, too.
According to Yahoo’s article, “Calif. Girl, 11, Avoids Felony Trial,” police
claimed she scratched an officer’s arm and felt the girl was resisting
arrest.
Also, Cuevas and her family speak very little English. The police only read
the girl her rights in English, as stated in “U.S. police pursue girl
over stone,” a BBC News article.
Of course she resisted, she was fighting for her life. Having three police
cars and a helicopter swarm in on you is not a particularly pleasant experience,
especially for a young child who may not be aware of what just happened and
who isn’t able to communicate with the officers.
The situation only gets worse. The state decided to prosecute Cuevas, even
though the boy’s family declined to press charges.
On the day of her trial, Cuevas’ father said his daughter had acted in
self defense. According to BBC News, Vang even admits he started the fight.
Cuevas claims a group of boys, including Vang, had been throwing water balloons
at her while she walked down the street in her Fresno neighborhood.
In light of this information, the prosecution really had no reason to take
her to trial. The boys could have been charged with assault or battery just
as easily as she had been.
According to the Yahoo! article, she spent five days in juvenile hall and a
month under house arrest. She made a mistake and acted out of anger. Her parents
should have given her a harsh punishment for flying off the handle like that.
The police’s involvement should have been limited to one squad car responding
to the situation and taking a report.
The district attorney did not need to waste taxpayers’ money by taking
a young girl to trial for this incident. Cuevas didn’t even receive any
major punishment.
While she did spend five days in juvenile hall and was under house arrest for
a month, meeting with Vang to talk about what happened is not a solution the
government should be enforcing for any case.
The parents could have easily done that themselves, without wasting time, money
and effort.
Cuevas is not the only one who should face punishment. The boys were picking
on an innocent person walking down the street. Had this been an adult, he or
she would have complained to the parents, called the police to report a disturbance
of the peace or pressed assault charges.
Aside from the police brutality this case supposedly symbolizes, as Cuevas’ supporters
claim, I feel this event sends a message to us all that children need more
guidance in life and more activities to participate in.
While it is difficult earning enough money to put food on the table, parents
can still teach their children how to be nice to other people.
In the end this is really just a story of two children who duked out their
differences and seemed to have worked out their problems on their own.
It’s
up to their parents to’show them
consequences of their actions, not the
police nor the California juvenile court
system.
Jamie Rowe is a senior journalism major and the editor in chief of the
Daily Forty-Niner. |
