Source: Ventura County Star, Lambda Legal press release
King shooting
A coalition of 27 groups advocating for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights is calling for Ventura County prosecutors to try 14-year-old Brandon McInerney in juvenile court, not as an adult.
McInerney has been charged as an adult in connection with the Feb. 12 fatal shooting of a classmate, Larry King, at E.O. Green School in Oxnard.
According to students, King, 15, might have been targeted because he was openly gay.
The coalition of lesbian, gay and other organizations, including Lambda Legal, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Human Rights Campaign, PFLAG, and the Transgender Law Center, announced Monday they have asked District Attorney Greg Totten to try McInerney as a juvenile.
"We are saddened and outraged by the murder of junior high school student Lawrence King," the groups' statement read. "At the same time, we call on prosecutors not to compound this tragedy with another wrong. We call on them to treat the suspect as a juvenile, not as an adult."
The groups' statement argues that "public safety is not served by treating children as adults" and calls for the suspect to "be held accountable for his actions. But we support the principles underlying our juvenile justice system that treat children differently than adults and provide greater hope and opportunity for rehabilitation."
The statement notes that "children transferred to adult court are more likely to re-offend than those committing similar offenses who remain in the juvenile justice system."
The district attorney has made no final decision on the matter, officials said. Prosecutors told the Star that the determination of of juvenile vs. adult court "could still go either way" based on results of an on-going investigation.
Full article: Rights groups want teen to be tried as juvenile | Ventura County Star
Groups Advocating for LGBT Rights Urge D.A. to Charge Alleged Lawrence King Murderer as a Minor | Lambda Legal press release
hattip: Bilerico Project