A 10-year-old Ocala, Florida girl brought a small steak in her lunch to school and a small kitchen knife to cut it. She now faces a felony charge after being arrested.
I think Florida needs to focus on the real threats to American children.
2007-12-18 04:15:05 · 27 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Law Enforcement & Police
For more informtation go to:
http://www.wftv.com/news/14858405/detail.html
2007-12-18 04:24:50 · update #1
KC V: Under what statute was the girl arrested? The school board/district doesn't enact the law.
2007-12-18 08:40:07 · update #2
The State or law enforcement has nothing to do with the fact that the school officials are the ones who pressed the charges against the child.
The problem is with the school policy not what the child nor law enforcement did!
2007-12-18 04:26:35 · answer #1 · answered by KC V ™ 7 · 8⤊ 2⤋
It's against the law to take a knife to school, therefore the police had the right to arrest her. Since the school complained and called the police, the police were in the right to go through with the arrest.
Now that she's been arrested, she and her parent(s) will have to go to the juvenile probation department to meet with the intake officer. The intake officer will make a recommendation to the prosecutor on how the charges should be handled. It's possible that the intake officer will recommend that no charges be filed against the child,or that the child get placed on informal (without going to court) probation.
I've had a couple clients who had knives at school, but had no criminal intent. I recommended no charges filed, and the prosecutor ageed.
2007-12-18 22:16:44 · answer #2 · answered by Mama Pastafarian 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Rick K. is right about he Zero Tolerance laws. It basically give the people in power rules to follow without actually thinking about what they are doing. They don't have to consider anything, they just follow the rules. How does arresting this child fix or solve anything. They do this stuff so people feel safe. It's stupid because she had a legitimate reason for the knife, it's not like she just had it. I mean the school's kitchen has knives, why aren't they arrested for cutting food.
2007-12-18 21:17:18 · answer #3 · answered by amish_renegade 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
97% of those who responded to the survey said that the action was too extreme, and I most definitely agree.
When I was a kid going to school, having a jacknife in your possession was considered a normal event. You might need it for scouts after school or for some kind of project within school, or you were just proud to show off the design to your friends. And nobody where I lived ever hurt or threatened anybody with it. 10 year olds are spontaneous in carrying something that in their mind has a practical use. They are not going to stop and think that somebody is going to regard them as criminal. As for remembering the school rules, there are now so many of them to remember! Even us adults would have trouble keeping up with all of the Zero Tolerance policies of today's Public Schools.
Since when does a child deserve to be felonized because her parents didn't answer the phone?
2007-12-18 22:12:12 · answer #4 · answered by Brigid O' Somebody 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Things like this make me want to home school my kids. Why would you involve the police in something like this anyways unless she was trying to hurt someone. If the poor girl was just trying to eat her steak let her eat, take the knife away, give her detention and let the poor thing eat! Is pretty bad we pay taxes to support these officers that have nothing better to do than arrest some 10 year old little girl for trying to eat a steak? What about the hundreds of missing kids out there? God this world is coming to an end!
Do you have a link to this story?
2007-12-18 12:26:36 · answer #5 · answered by poopykins81 3 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Arresting the girl, no, I don't think it was too extreme.
I think everybody should be arrested for potential crimes when young enough to learn at a very young age exactly what it CAN be like to keep on committing crimes.
What I think MIGHT become too extreme is if this case actually winds up going to court.
This is the kind of thing that a ten year old should be WARNED not to repeat. But even THAT depends upon whethr or not she has ANY kind of violent history at all, because if she has threatened any of her school mates and was seeking some form of plausible excuse to get away with bringing a weapon to school, she should probably be convicted of the felony.
Like the Shipwreck, I, too, used to carry a knife to school. Not necessarily to cut up apples, but simply to have available. It was very much against the law in my neck of the woods, as well, although probably not a felony.
I got away with it, though, because on the first day I took it to school with me, I could prove my need for it to be in my possession, and I wore it on my belt in plain view (and I let teachers borrow it whenever they asked, which they quite often did).
If this kid really didn't have any other reason for having it than to cut up her steak, then this should wind up only being a very valuable lesson for her, and for her schoolmates.
And she should remember to cut her next steak up before leaving home.
2007-12-18 12:39:56 · answer #6 · answered by Robert G 5 · 2⤊ 3⤋
This is one of the stupidest things I've ever heard of. It seems that the law has gone from being blind to being retarded. Arresting a ten yearold girl in and of itself seems pretty stupid, but for having a knife to eat a steak with, so stupid.
2007-12-18 13:01:13 · answer #7 · answered by Shalashaska 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
In order for this child to have ended up in police custody- she must have had a teacher without any common sense, a school principle without any common sense and a law enforcement official without any common sense.
Sad, but that is so entirely possible- people are just getting dumber and more useless in this new politically correct age.
2007-12-18 12:27:21 · answer #8 · answered by tnfarmgirl 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
When I was a kid, I brought a knife tos chool for lunch sometimes - to cut up an apple I would have with me. No one got bent out of shape. Times are different.
If they want to give the girl detention - I guess I COULD understand it - But an arrest. Ridiculous...
2007-12-18 12:25:06 · answer #9 · answered by MisterShipWreck 5 · 5⤊ 0⤋
Although the act of bringing the knife to school was against policy OH NOES. She is 10, not even old enough to know, by law, what she was doing and only bringing it to cut her food. tell her not to do it again next time and give her a detention, she'll never do it again. I say BOO to the school for allowing this to get into the criminal court system.
PS. You do not "arrest" a minor, you "take them into custody"
2007-12-18 13:31:16 · answer #10 · answered by Kevy 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋