ACLU criticizes charges in Tonawanda hit-list case
Detective says Tonawanda girl will get help in Family Court
Charging an 11-year-old City of Tonawanda girl with a felony terrorist offense for creating a hit list on a school computer is “a complete perversion of justice,” advocates with the New York branch of the American Civil Liberties Union said Friday.
“This is an egregious example of a school district using the state’s terrorism laws to deal with a child’s emotional problems,” said Udi Ofer, advocacy director for the New York Civil Liberties Union. “It’s not going to make the nation any safer.”
The Tonawanda Middle School sixth-grader was suspended for 10 weeks and charged by Tonawanda police Wednesday with “making a terroristic threat” after she reportedly created a spreadsheet list of nine students and two teachers she said she wanted to kill.
“No one is saying this is not a child who needs emotional help; that’s absolutely clear,” Ofer said, “[but] you do not help this child by arresting this child and charging her with terrorism.”
The penal code under which she was charged was part of a slew of laws passed in New York State in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and is clearly inappropriate in this case, Ofer said.
He added that this incident is part of a troubling trend nationwide to criminalize children for school disciplinary infractions.
“What used to be a walk to the principal’s office has now become a walk to your local jailhouse,” he said.
Aside from creating a hit list of names, which included sixth-and seventh-graders, police said the girl had written a note by one teacher’s name, indicating that she wanted the teacher to be killed “with a very, very, very, very, very sharp knife” and with a gun.
She also put a note at the end of her list saying she wanted to hurt the people named in many ways, police said.
The girl’s name is being withheld because of her age. The Tonawanda City School District referred all calls related to the case to Tonawanda police.
Youth Services Detective Tim Toth, who handles all juvenile cases for the city police department, said it’s unrealistic for police to turn a blind eye toward incidents that could jeopardize the safety of other students.
“The ACLU is a little removed from reality and what happens in the real world,” he said.
The penal code under which the girl was charged represents a low-level felony involving the intent to threaten or intimidate a particular population or group of people, Toth said. The code also states that there would be a reasonable expectation or fear that the offense could be committed.
Toth said the student witness who discovered the spreadsheet hit list not only saw her name on the list but had previously heard that the girl intended to beat her up.
He also said the criminal code is very clear that just because the offender didn’t have the actual intent or means to carry out the threat should not prevent him or her from being charged.
Finally, Toth said the ACLU is ignoring the fact that the girl will be sent to Family Court, a nonpunitive court setting designed to make sure that troubled children get the support they need.
“They certainly are not being criminalized,” he said, adding that all records involving juveniles are subject to strict confidentiality requirements.
Ofer said that while he’s glad the girl’s identity isn’t being made public, she still will be subjected to humiliation by other students in her school community and may not recover her reputation.
“The criminal justice system should not be the way to deal with a child’s emotional needs,” he said. “That is just not how you deal with 11-year-old children. There is just no excusing it.”
The school district should have focused its energies on trying to find out why the girl is so angry and getting her the support she needs, instead of calling the cops, Ofer said.
Toth responded that Family Court is designed to do just that —make sure the girl gets all the help she needs.
“We run into families all the time that make promises to get their kids help,” he said, “and they never do.”
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