In our view: Riverton teens

December 02, 2006 07:33 pm

— Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline must bear the responsibility for what happened in the case of five Riverton, Kan., teen-agers sucked up in a torrent of criminal litigation for ... we are not exactly sure.
The only specific information to come to light is that some of the boys engaged in a lunchroom discussion of instructors and fellow students who could be targets in a school shooting. Another hint emerged with the information that former Riverton High School student Coy New mentioned April 20 as Adolf Hitler’s birthday on his Myspace.com Web page.
All five boys were at first charged with felonies, which were reduced when the Cherokee County prosecutor’s office took over the case. Four of the boys pleaded guilty or no contest to misdemeanor charges.
Coy, who chose to take the charges to trial, was acquitted last week. Judge Robert Fleming correctly concluded that prosecutors failed to make a case. He also, and we agree again, noted that school officials must take all information concerning school violence seriously.
The Joplin Memorial Middle School incident, in which tragedy was avoided when a semi-automatic rifle carried by a hooded student failed to fire after one shot, points to the need for all associated with the school system to be alert and watchful.
In the case of the five boys in Riverton, Kline clearly overreacted, storming into a local jurisdiction, grabbing the limelight, announcing serious charges and then backing out when it became clear evidence was lacking.
The damage of actions like Kline’s can be serious. School officials may now be wary of going too hard and too fast with information they receive. Law enforcement and prosecutors may worry too much about “making the case” and fail to intervene quickly enough.
And, of course, the lives of five teens have been changed forever. The boys certainly bear some responsibility. It is not appropriate to sit in a school cafeteria and discuss harm to fellow students or teachers.
“Hopefully, this defendant and the other boys involved will learn and grow from this incident,” Fleming said in his acquittal ruling.
We agree, and hopefully others will learn as well.