Judge Not

Manatee County Circuit Court Judge George Brown was out in the car waiting for his son while his son broke into a home and stole an aquarium, Manatee sheriff's deputies revealed, but they haven't charged the judge with being an accessory to the crime because they believed him when he told them he was unaware his son was committing burglary.

It's the latest indignity to be visited on top Manatee County officials, where County Commissioner Jane Von Hahman just witnessed the embarrassment of her son being arrested for appearing naked in the bedroom of a pre-teen girl who lived nearby. Von Hahmann's son was not charged but diverted to a mental facility, while Judge Brown's son will go to court and face jail time.

We're not above believing that parents can be complicit in the crimes of their children, and that often seems to be the case in some families. But there is little doubt about the judge's innocence in my mind, and I am particularly sympathetic in this case.

Back when I led a substantial community organization in Hollywood, Calif., I used to take a number of teenage gang wannabes out to the drive-in on Friday and Saturday nights because I enjoyed their company and it kept them out of the trouble most of their older brothers were having with drugs, gangs and the law.

But one night they asked me to stop at a dingy San Fernando Valley liquor store - to get some soda, they said -and they came running out a few minutes later yelling "Go, go, go!"

I was used to their concocted emergencies. One of their favorites was to fake their hand being caught in a door. There was no end to the number of pranks they'd play to incite my ire. I drove off in niormal fashion until one of them showed me a pellet gun that looked an awful lot like a 9mm handgun, which were popular among gang members at the time. It sure got me going, I can tell you, and a few months later they let on that they had actually robbed the place.

By that time, I had no memory of where the nameless place even was, and no evidence they had really committed the crime. But I can assure you that I was completely innocent of their plans, if indeed they did what they said, and if I had seen evidence - cash, stolen goods, etc. - I would have found a way to report it to the police.

Most of these kids by now have unfortunately gone to jail several times or are dead, and yet I would treat any one of them like a son if I came upon them today. That gives me some insight into Judge Brown's predicament; I'm sure he's a good guy who loves his son and was only trying to assist him in something mundane the kid couldn't do for himself.

Commissioner Von Hahmann's case raised more questions for me than Judge Brown's did. I felt as though the boy got special treatment in being diverted rather than have to go through a process that could leave him branded for life as a sex offender.

However, it would certainly be a worse outcome if the boy was indeed someone so confused and disoritented that he had made a forgivable mistake, but had to be branded by the phrase, anyway.

I would - the first time - rather not risk that second outcome when there was apparently no physical contact and the young girl was only mildly traumatized.

Both as a Catholic and a human being, I believe in mercy and forgiveness when remorse is present, although that does not extend to removing consequences where appropriate.

I'm hopeful that in both cases, justice will be tempered by wisdom and compassion, and that young lives will not be destroyed - and adult lives with them.