Kiera Wilmot

http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2013/04/florida_teen_girl_charged_with.php

When I first read this story, I was horrified. But, learning from various other cases, I resolved to wait a full 24 hours before reaching judgment. I thought the story worthy of posting in the interim, but didn't sign any petitions or write any letters. After all, sometimes there is some additional evidence that comes out that, in retrospect, justifies the decisions by law enforcement.

I just read the publication date of the article. It's six days old.

And needless to say, I'm livid.

Some have tried to make this case about race. It may or may not be about that, and I don't think race needs to be a factor at all to feel passionately about this. But I understand if some people view this case through the lens of race.

And it'd be easy -- perhaps easier for me -- to make this about the science culture wars. After all, given the recent noise from Lamar Smith (R-TX), current chair of the House Science Committee, about making political oversight the determining factor for NSF grants, it's clear that one political party (you get two guesses) has adopted a pretty anti-science position, even as it seeks minority opinion to try to make settled issues appear somewhat unsettled. I hope to hell she does get into a good program that gives her the opportunity to get a great science education; she has more native curiosity about science than I did at her age, and if I was good enough to get an NSF fellowship, she probably will be, too. (Who knows? She might even complete her PhD, unlike yours truly.)

But it's not about either of this. This is about childhood, and about America.

It's about whether we, as a country, are so paranoid of our own youth that we can't exercise judgment and come up with proportionate punishment.

Maybe this would've been different if the Boston Marathon bombings hadn't happened. Maybe many are still a bit paranoid about the potential for young people to inflict mass casualties using relatively simple devices. Maybe we've gotten so used to hearing stories of heinous crimes committed by younger, and younger people that it's only natural we've begun criminalizing the young.

Maybe we've become a nation of cowards.

I believe in an America that can't be defeated by one bomb, or a hundred, or a thousand. I believe in an America where our native, sometimes sickeningly naive optimism triumphs over the paranoia and cowardice that are invitations to unchecked power.

Have we become so weak, so pathetic as a country that a little bang on the field is enough to bring down the security apparatus of the state?

If so, we deserve the horrors of the worst paranoid fears realized, for we are no longer a nation worth defending.

You have a 16-year old young person, who happens to be black, happens to be female, happens to be bright, curious, and, by all accounts, a good person. She is now facing two felony charges for something that appears on Youtube, for combining very, very common items.

Did she display a lapse in judgment? Sure. I don't know the details yet about the amount of reactants used, but I suppose she could've seriously injured her eye if the ejected bottle top had hit her in the face. I'm also curious why she didn't get permission from her teacher, and who the mysterious friend is that allegedly told her to do it.

A 16-year old's judgment could be worse. We're complaining about a 16-year old girl who would do a science experiment to impress a friend. There are 16-year old girls who spread their legs to impress someone. Or do drugs. Or break into a house.

Was it uncommon? No.

At my college, we used to blow up things, like, oh, large weather balloons filled with flammable material. Those were stopped before my time. But someone did try to detonate an ice block with thermite once. Yeah, there was some trouble about it, but it was all resolved without a felony charge. And I think there were occasional magnesium fires in the courtyard. All of these were more dangerous than the poof generated by aluminum and toilet bowl cleaner, outdoors, in an uncrowded field.

Was it criminal? I hope not.

It's pretty much impossible to write a good law that covers all possible cases. That's why law is evolving, dynamic, and imperfect. Maybe she did technically break the law (though it's not at all obvious from what I read). But if so, does it make sense to charge her with felony counts?

The whole reason we have a trial by jury, DAs, and judges is that there is, and ought to be, some leeway regarding which cases to bring to trial, which cases merit a guilty verdict, and, even in those cases, some level of judgment regarding sentencing.

I have not seen any of those fine aspects of jurisprudence on display in the last week. What I do see is half-hearted excuses by weak individuals unwilling (with the exception of the school's principal) to stand up and say, this is wrong. We are not doing right by her. We are not doing right by all of the youth we regard, by default, as threats.

I'm disgusted, and will sign petitions, and write letters, and contribute to her legal defense fund. Also, I'll encourage Harvey Mudd College, recently recognized for its success in growing its female student body, to start sending her application materials.

Could something come up in the next few days that will leave egg on my face? Sure. Then I'm sure some people will mock me for running to defend someone not worth defending. Bullshit. I'll choose the promise of youth over the cynicism of the old every day, any day. And if that means I'm wrong occasionally, so be it.

But it looks pretty damn ridiculous right now. Florida has definitely demonstrated some high profile madness in a number of criminal cases in recent years. Here's hoping they get this one right, and let her get back to school soon.