OPINIONS

Suspect: Age 12 bail: $250,000

Judge Paul D. Lewis has seen it all during his 23 years in juvenile court: kids involved in shootings, kids involved in killings, kids involved in rapes at gunpoint.

And when a 12-year-old boy came into his court charged with possession of a firearm, Lewis had seen enough. He set bail at $250,000 — 50 times higher than the $5,000 sought by prosecutors. His decision shocked prosecutors and defense attorneys alike.
Lewis said he is simply trying to protect the public. “We can't have kids out in the community with guns and firing guns,” he said in an interview. “Innocent people get killed — intended targets get killed and unintended targets get killed — in either case it's wrong, it's inappropriate, and we have to do something about it as a community.”
Lewis said he is surprised by all the attention this decision is receiving. He has set high bail and even held juveniles without bail in other cases, he said.
But the age of the boy and the circumstances of the case have some lawyers questioning the decision. No one was hurt in the shooting and the boy was arrested on a juvenile firearms possession charge. Children's advocates also point out that juvenile crime in the nation and in Massachusetts has steadily declined over the last decade.
“I respect the judge's level of frustration and understand his frustration, but a bail of this magnitude is certainly not a common occurrence,” said Barbara Kaban, deputy director of the Children's Law Center of Massachusetts, a nonprofit legal advocacy and resource center providing representation to low-income children. “This is a child with no prior record,” she added.

Police said the incident happened Monday when officers heard a loud noise at an intersection and saw the boy running away. A 20-year-old man and an 11-year-old boy told police they had been lighting firecrackers, but police did not find any. The 12-year-old returned to the intersection carrying a black bandanna. Inside, officers founded a loaded .38-caliber handgun, prosecutors said. One round had been fired, another was in the chamber. The 12-year-old was arrested.
His lawyer, Mariann Samaha, said she plans to appeal the bail decision.
The boy faces a maximum sentence of commitment to the Department of Youth Services until the age of 18.
David Procopio, a district attorney spokesman, said prosecutors asked for a $5,000 bail because it was “fair” and would be enough to ensure the boy's return to court.
“Twelve years old is very much on the low end of the spectrum in terms of a youth charged with a gun offense,” he said. “We certainly share the judge's frustration with the problem of children and teenagers in Boston carrying and using guns. We thought our bail request was fair, though.”

David Frank, a former prosecutor in the gang unit of the district attorney's office, said the $250,000 bail is by far the highest he remembers in a juvenile case. “I know that Judge Lewis in particular views firearms offenses as being extremely serious.
It's not uncommon for him to set bails that are reflective of that,” he said.

Denise Lavoie
26 August 2005

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Judge made the right call

Hear ye, hear ye. A round of applause for Judge Paul D. Lewis of the Boston Juvenile Court for imposing hefty bail on a 12-year-old allegedly caught red-handed with a gun on Tuesday.

Lewis told The Boston Globe he's fed up with “fearless” kids who show up daily in his courtroom, so he slapped a $250,000 bail order on the youth. It surprised even the prosecutors, who had asked for $5,000.
Day after day, Lewis sees cases like these, with no end in sight. It's unfortunate this young man is paying the price for the thugs who have gone before him, but it has to start somewhere. When he returns to the street, you can bet he'll think twice before he picks up a gun, and maybe his friends will, too.
All because Judge Lewis' patience finally ran out.

Boston Herald editorial staff
25 August 2005

http://news.bostonherald.com/opinion/view.bg?articleid=99509

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