Accountability — does it have different meanings based upon where you live?

Alfred Doblin’s column earlier this week (just saw it on Facebook) on the arrest of three preteens in connection with the stoning to death of a cat in Paterson. The story is a terrible one and, as Doblin makes clear, the three kids are in need of help. But the arrests — particularly of a 6-year-old who is not capable of understanding what he did — raises some other questions, questions that few in our allegedly post-racial, classless society are willing to ask.

Paterson is, in the parlance, a “majority minority city,” meaning it overwhelmingly black and Hispanic. It is poor and has been beset by violence for years. How much did this history factor into the way the preteen perps were treated? I don’t have enough of the details on the case, but Doblin offers some thoughts:

Consider the tale of a different town not far away: the borough of Teaneck. A so-called high-school senior prank became a national story. Police alleged students broke into the high school, damaged furniture, scrawled graffiti and urinated on floors. What was unusual was the community’s reaction: Police were at fault, not students inside the high school. Parents and school officials banded together to discredit what they claimed was overzealous law enforcement. Prosecutors downgraded the charges and the students were free to dance the night away at their prom if they so chose.

The senior prank in Teaneck is not on the same plane as the stoning of Quattro, but I wonder if prosecutors would criminally charge a 6-year-old for allegedly taking part in the stoning of a cat if that 6-year-old’s family lived in a nice middle-class suburb. The presumption appears to be that a Paterson child – or his parents or guardian – needs to face a judge to understand that what was done was horribly wrong.

Accountability is important here, as Doblin plainly states, but what about accountability for the kids who broke into the high school and caused thousands of dollars of damage? Breaking and entering — burglary — is a crime, as are vandalism and the destruction of private property. What about accountability in Teaneck?

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Author: hankkalet

Hank Kalet is a poet and freelance journalist. He is the economic needs reporter for NJ Spotlight, teaches journalism at Rutgers University and writing at Middlesex County College and Brookdale Community College. He writes a semi-monthly column for the Progressive Populist. He is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets and New York Knicks, drinks too much coffee and attends as many Bruce Springsteen concerts as his meager finances will allow. He lives in South Brunswick with his wife Annie. View all posts by hankkalet