The Out-Lawyer's Blog

AW, by all accounts, was a 16 year old punk well on his way to becoming a 17 year old thug.  His mother and father had divorced, but Mom couldn’t control her son.  This is often the case with young punks, or haven’t you noticed?

WA had assisted in the commission of the robbery of a young woman a few months ago (note – this means by definition, a theft from a person accomplished by force or fear), but was released on conditions of probation that he promptly and repeatedly violated, including by engaging in threatening and “outlandish” behavior at school, “disruptive” behavior during counseling requiring his “removal”, resuming his gang associations and drug related activity. 

The code of juvenile-speak is easily broken here: Not to put too fine a point on it, this young fellow was a budding young thug, plain and simple, out of control and on a scary downward path. 

Following AW’s latest screw-ups, he once again found himself in a locked facility (San Francisco’s juvenile Hall), and was about to be moved to a “rehabilitation program”.

Then Dad intervened.  A Juvenile Court Commissioner agreed to “place” young AW with Dad in Vallejo. 

And this release order, by the way, took place over the strong objections of prosecutors. 

Enter San Francisco’s Mayor Newsom, a politician apparently more concerned with Juvenile Hall crowding than paying close, detailed attention to the public safety.  After all the Mayor has a lot on his plate these days. We can’t expect him to pay close attention to Juvenile Justice, can we?

The Mayor ordered the release of a second wave of youthful inmates from that facility.

[An aside: Overcrowding is a relative thing.  Conditions at SF’s Hall are less than perfect but better than many of the home conditions of some of its wards. A caveat: The Hall was under a court order to trim its residential crowding, but not necessarily that day and those particular wards.]

Yes, AW was among those released, again to his father, again against the recommendations of the prosecutors.

It is not clear from the available reports whether AW ever actually got into his father’s custody this time.  But it is clear that about week later he was involved in a street transaction during which AW fatally shot a 19 year old (identified as a drug dealer).

AW was reportedly fleeing the scene when police arrived, having taken drugs from the victim.  The victim is in the morgue with a bullet track through his head, and young AW is safely back in custody.

Who knows?  Maybe young AW will beat his case.  Maybe he has a defense to the shooting. 

One thing is clear: AW’s rehabilitation prognosis is poor.  Another thing is evident: The rehabilitation prognosis of the shooting victim is zero.

(1) It is often not a kindness to a miscreant who has self discipline and self control problems to release him from the safety of confinement. And it is rarely a kindness to others. Had AW not been released, he would still have a chance at life.

(2) “Thugs” are recruited by the street ethos from a larger group of tough males who lack impulse control and a developed conscience.  Many of them can be saved, but not by wimp parents.  The days are long gone when any single parent (even one with strong parenting skills) is able to control and discipline a recalcitrant male child without getting into trouble with Social Services. 

(3) Well meaning fools are dangerous.