Judge Can Send Message To Gangs

Three 16-year-old boys have pleaded guilty to felony vandalism charges for spray-painting gang symbols on more than 50 buildings in north Spokane.

What should Juvenile Court do? Present the poor, misunderstood little dears with an apology for infringing on their freedom of speech?

No way.

Lock them in jail for a year?

Well, maybe not.

But between the extremes, there has to be a way for the community to make it resoundingly clear that vandalism brings a fierce response, and that neighborhoods will not sit still while teen gangs mark private and public property as “turf” the way dogs mark fire hydrants.

The community ought to applaud the intent of the Spokane County prosecutor’s office, which asked in effect that Juvenile Court throw the book at these offenders.

Still, the prosecutor’s recommendation for a year in jail is questionable. It’s a good opportunity for public reflection about how to deter and punish juvenile crime.

Absolutely, detention belongs in the mix. These offenders have earned a long stay in a steel-barred hotel. How long? The public can entrust the answer to Juvenile Court Judge Kathleen O’Connor, who takes no bleeding-heart guff.

If ever there were defendants worthy of an innovative sentence - say, spending the rest of their teen years scrubbing with toothbrushes at other gangsters’ graffiti - this is the case.

Appropriate though it is, detention also has a down side. It confines impressionable teens with the worst peer group imaginable. It’s with good reason (public safety) that violent offenders are jailed longer than non-violent vandals and thieves.

And yet, under state formulas the standard penalty for this egregious vandalism case is a pathetic five to 30 days of detention. No wonder kids learn to sneer at police and courts. No wonder the Legislature next year will reconsider Washington’s sentencing formulas for juveniles.

But how should sentencing laws be changed? Simply with longer periods of incarceration? This state can’t build cells fast enough to keep up with crime, as it is.

Judicial discretion - leeway to match punishments to each particular crime and criminal - is one way out of the dilemma.

Judge O’Connor has a chance to send a message for Spokane’s neighborhoods. From a property owner’s point of view, gang graffiti is urban terrorism and deserves a severe response. In crafting that response, O’Connor also has a chance to show why state law can trust judicial discretion with a bigger role in the war on juvenile crime.

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = John Webster/For the editorial board