Felony weapons charge for student who brought fishing supplies to school

[Jenoch]

A Cobb County high school senior was charged with the felony of bringing weapons into a school zone after police found fishing knives in a tackle box in his car. Cody Chitwood, a 17-year-old student at Lassiter High School and avid fisherman, turned himself in and was released on $1,000 bond.

Police were performing a random sweep, and drug-sniffing dogs detected black powder in Chitwood’s car. The powder was residue from a firecracker that had been in the car since Fourth of July, but it was enough to a warrant a full search that turned up the fishing-related weaponry.



Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2013/10/02/felony-weapons-charge-for-student-who-brought-fishing-supplies-to-school/#ixzz2gmLIiTha

This 'zero tolerance' crap takes away all common sense from school administrators. It ties their hands. In my town, a kid was suspended because he had a box cutter in his car. He worked in the backroom at a local grocery store, cutting apart boxes for recycling.

(I don't care if the website is suspect, on this issue I agree with the Daily Caller.)

[unblock]

1. "a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds"

good judgment is hard work. zero tolerance is the refusal to exercise judgment in the name of a uniform standard.


hear the one about a kid, i think 6 years old, suspended for pretending his thumb and index fingers were a gun?

[Jenoch]

4. I did hear about that.

You cannot stop a kindergartener from those kinds of games with a Ωero tolerance policy.

[sharp_stick]

2. Fishing related weaponry

Oh my god, I hate zero tolerance idiocy.

[gollygee]

5. What is "fishing related weaponry?"

How big of a knife was it? I'm not into zero-tolerence stuff, but you can't say you're going to enforce the rules against some kids who bring knives to school and not others either. Assuming this is a real knife that could cause damage and not some little pen knife. (And I know people get expelled for that too and I do think that's over the line.)

[Jenoch]

6. It's a knife that could do a lot of damage,

but that's not the point. Zero tolerance takes away any use of common sense by the school administrators. They should be allowed to use good judgement. Intent should be taken into account. Intent is taken into account in the criminal process, so why not at school? By the way, my guess is that is was a filet knife.

[gollygee]

7. Well here's the thing

There's a lot of institutional racism in the schools and the criminal justice system. We determine intent in part based on race. So if a white guy has it, it's for fishing, but if a black guy has it, it's gang related. People make these kinds of assumptions all the time. I want to see a more real policy that takes into account intent, but at the same time I am worried that the subjectivity will lead to racist outcomes.

[Jenoch]

8. It was in a tack box. Race has nothing to do with it.

[gollygee]

9. So that's the new way someone can bring a knife to school?

Is this an available loophole now for anyone who was wanting to bring a knife onto school property? Or would the next person get in trouble for it? Is it more likely that the next person would be assumed to be trying to take advantage of a loophole rather than honestly fishing the next person were white or black?

[Taitertots]

13. Do you honestly think students are going to keep fishing gear locked in their trunk...

as a clear ruse so they can keep a knife locked in their trunk?

[Jenoch]

15. You seem to be part of the problem,

rather than the solution to the 'zero tolerance' nuttery.

[Drahthaardogs]

17. No, you tell the kid not to do it again, or he will get in trouble next time.

And he goes home and quits being lazy and puts his tackle box away instead of leaving it in the car. Then you tell ALL the kids in school, to remember to check things like their tackle box, or if they work in a grocery store, their aprons for box cutters.

There is no loophole. You don't charge him with a felony for leaving a tackle box with a filet knife in it in his trunk. You remind him not to do it again.

It is called using your head for something more valuable than decorating your shoulders.

[Taitertots]

10. We shouldn't do something that hurts everyone (zero tolerance/thought) just to prevent the chance...

That someone will do something racist.

Stop institutional racism with reporting, oversight, and accountability.

[gollygee]

11. There isn't just a chance that someone will do something racist

It's built into the structure of our institutions. It's assured that it will happen at some point.

We can't stop racism by telling people to be nice. We have to change the structure of our institutions. This much subjectivity takes us away from that goal.

I feel the need to edit this because I don't think this kid should be charged with a felony weapons charge, unless it actually is a felony to own that knife in any circumstance. I'm just worried about subjectivity in how we respond to laws. I think no students who have a knife in the back of their car should have that charge unless it's actually a felony to own the specific knife in any circumstance. A fair and reasonable rule should be made, and this rule is not fair or reasonable, but we should be careful about allowing too much subjectivity.

[Taitertots]

12. "Reporting, oversight, and accountability" Not policies that result in obviously negative outcomes.

Let me rephrase my statement because you are just complaining about semantics.


"We shouldn't do something that hurts everyone (zero tolerance/thought) just to prevent some racist somewhere from giving preferential treatment"

[Jenoch]

16. Millions of people own fillet knives.

It is not a felony to own a fillet knife. Millions of anglers own them and have them in their tackle boxes. They are used to fillet fish.

[tsuki]

14. Preparing the future generation for life in a private prison system. nt