Justice for victims of juvenile crime should be paramount

I write in response to the recent coverage of Baltimore State’s Attorney Ivan Bates bringing charges against 20 juveniles for an autumn crime spree (“After spat this week, Baltimore state’s attorney describes widening rift with mayor: ‘I need a partner,'” April 4).

Critics of juvenile justice legislation pending before the Maryland General Assembly seem to confuse accountability with demonizing. Whereas State’s Attorney Bates ran on a platform of holding criminals accountable, a promise he continues to fulfill, critics cannot tolerate any consequences for juvenile criminals other than social services. No mention is made of the true victims of the armed carjackings that traumatize community members and greatly impact their lives. Members of our community, some elderly, have been pistol-whipped by juveniles, robbed of belongings, knocked to the ground, kicked, verbally abused, followed home and threatened, you name it. Where is the consideration for these law-abiding residents?

Child psychology has for the past generation seemed to move toward prioritizing children over adults. Over 40 years ago, I was trying to care for three children under the age of 3 and was having trouble toilet training the eldest. I called a highly reputed advice line (the “Warm Line”) in Los Angeles and was told that any mention of toileting to him was tantamount to child abuse and would traumatize him for life. That’s when I realized we were living in a new world where the child existed in a vacuum and no consideration was given to the needs of the parents or any other family members.

I blame this ideology for the current upside-down view of the juvenile perpetrators as the victims, and the beaten and bloodied drivers as the perpetrators for seeking justice.

Bates is clear as day about the real victim-perpetrator roles and, thank God, continues to use the system to hold armed juveniles, as well as adult criminals, accountable. We should be grateful to him and his office for having the clarity to protect our community and, in the process, help the juveniles who so desperately need to learn that there are consequences for their actions.