Editor’s Note: Long-time Ledger journalist Cary McMullen most recently wrote a column for Florida Voices. In a special column for Lakeland Local, McMullen gives a thumbs-up to the handling of the Kiera Wilmot case. Or is it a thumbs-down?

One of the clichés of Hollywood films about the Roman Empire is that the fate of a disabled or disarmed gladiator was determined by a thumbs up-or-down gesture from Caesar, who might or might not be swayed by the similar gestures of the crowd in the arena. Thumbs down meant death. Thumbs up was an act of mercy and let him live.

In historical fact, the gestures were not exactly thumbs-up or thumbs-down, but these movie scenes are intended to portray a kind of brutal theater, in which life or death was determined by vox populi, the frenzied voice of the people, rather than by impartial rules. We are supposed to find such notions barbaric. Heaven forbid that it would compare to our criminal justice system, where justice is blind, impervious to anything but the dispassionate application of the law.

But this has always been more of an ideal than a reality. Popular sentiment always plays a role in high-profile cases. It usually works against a defendant, particularly one accused of a heinous crime. The Lindbergh kidnapping case comes to mind. Now in the case of Kiera Wilmot we have an instance of mercy by democracy.

Wilmot, you recall, is the Bartow High School student who made a minor, though foolish, mistake and almost got prosecuted as a terrorist. Wilmot’s story is that the 16-year-old wanted to do a science experiment – more closely resembling a familiar boyhood prank – in which common household ingredients are combined in a closed container, resulting in a modest explosion. It’s not much more than a firecracker, but it can be dangerous because caustic chemicals can be sprayed in all directions.

Wilmot is a good student with a clean record, but she made two mistakes. She didn’t tell teachers or parents about the experiment, and – egged on by curious fellow students – she tried it out on school grounds. No one was hurt, and the container simply blew its top, but Principal Ron Pritchard heard the pop, discovered what happened, and Wilmot’s unfortunate legal saga began. She was arrested and booked into juvenile detention on charges of possessing or discharging a destructive device and for doing so on school property. Both are felonies.

This is the way these things are handled nowadays. At one time, a stern lecture and some detention would have been sufficient to reform the offender. Now, the combination of real terror carried out by disturbed students, zero-tolerance rules intended to prevent those scenarios and a climate that leaves administrators petrified they will be fired and held up to public humiliation if they don’t enforce those rules results in this kind of inflexible discipline.

But that system is magnified by a thousand in the criminal justice system. Wilmot was facing charges that potentially would have sent her to adult prison for years. It is not clear whether State Attorney Jerry Hill would have followed through with those charges or if they were just the kind of piling-on that prosecutors do these days to get leverage in the plea-bargain process, but his office’s initial handling of the case, once it became public, provoked an unexpected reaction. People began to flock to Kiera’s defense.

Thanks to Facebook, an online petition drew something like 200,000 signatures, and a citizens’ group showed up at Hill’s office, requesting a meeting. Hill recognized he was losing the public relations battle. He promised the case would be handled fairly. Wilmot’s attorney was offered a deal in which the charges would be dropped in exchange for her to complete a diversion program.

I had begun to wonder whether there was any way to check the heavy-handedness of state attorneys, who for years now have abused their power to crush the defenses of people who have made mistakes and committed breaches of law but who do not deserve jail time or other severe penalties. Sitting in on a college criminal justice class not long ago, both a retired judge and a public defender’s investigator described case after case in which prosecutors bullied, pressured and thumbscrewed defendants into accepting plea deals to charges far beyond what justice required.

Judgment, common sense and compassion have been eradicated these days by a culture of victimhood that cowed legislatures into spinelessly transferring power from judges to prosecutors, followed by a rampant misuse of that power to appear tough on crime and to prevail in the macho competitiveness of the adversarial judicial system. Misdemeanors become felonies. A schoolyard fight between sixth grade boys becomes aggravated assault. Negligence becomes homicide. Manslaughter becomes second-degree murder. Second-degree murder becomes capital murder. It’s Law and Order on steroids.

I’m not much of a fan of judicial officials, such as state attorneys, being subject to election, but Wilmot might have been charged with terrorism if people hadn’t finally said enough and called Hill on the carpet. Checking the crowd, Caesar gave a thumbs up.

Of course, the problem is that this reduces justice to the modern equivalent of the Roman arena. The whims of the mob determine the severity of charges. If it had been up to the public instead of a jury that took its responsibilities seriously, Casey Anthony would have been strung out on a rack. And what of cases that don’t reach the public eye? What would have happened to Kiera if people hadn’t spoken up for her?

We could do with more common sense and less reflexive strong-arm tactics on the part of schools, police and prosecutors, but if it comes to it, we need more protests to enforce a sense of decency and evenhanded justice. Finally, we need to elect legislators who will introduce reforms and restore the possibility of discretion and leniency in the judicial system. If it takes democracy to balance the scales of justice with mercy, so be it.

Cary McMullen is publications editor at Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Fla. He has been a journalist since 1995, first as a reporter for The Cordele (Ga.) Dispatch and then as religion editor at The Ledger of Lakeland for 14 years. He wrote the weekly column on religion, called “Beliefs,” from 1996 to May 2011, which was distributed by The New York Times News Service. Prior to his journalism career, he was a pastor in the Presbyterian Church (USA) for four years.
A native of Texas, Cary has degrees from Texas A&M University and Duke University.
He has been married since 1983, and he and his wife have two young adult children. Interests include golf, a wide range of musical tastes from classical to jazz to folk to big band, and movies that engage the mind and the heart (although he can quote “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” at length). — Florida Voices

Photo CC by Darius Norvilas

Mercy by Democracy

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There’s a “church” in this country that wants to spread a message of hate. Tonight this group of people made an announcement that they planned to disrupt the Lakeland High School Graduation on June 1st.

Since they don’t want to take the trouble to send a press release to the proper groups, they made the announcement on their website and sent notice by twitter to Lakeland Local…and USF in Lakeland. OK, we’re part of the media, but USF doesn’t have a class graduating that day.

I figure they just grabbed some Lakeland accounts that looked like they might be influential organizations in Lakeland. Well, strike two for them.

I’m reprinting the announcement below. It has been edited. (Why? Because I don’t want to spread their URLS and contact information. And they used a word I don’t want on this site. I’m not the government. I can censor all I like. I own the place.)

If you’d like to find the original announcement, it shouldn’t take more than a few seconds.

Right after the announcement tweet, a Twitter account from a self-proclaimed hacker put Lakeland Local and USF in Lakeland on notice to “Get ready to get hacked. #DDOS” Another person who didn’t want to do simple homework. They and others thought that Lakeland Local was affiliated with the full-tilt loonies claiming they’ll disrupt the graduation. We are not.

Will they actually travel to Lakeland to disrupt a high school graduation or is this another attempt for attention and press?

I don’t know. Lately they’ve made a habit of making these announcements and then not showing. Or canceling after they received enough media attention.

Well, they’ll get precious little attention from Lakeland Local.

If it looks like they’ll actually come to Lakeland, I’ll stay in town just to help form a human wall around them. I’ve dealt with hate-filled bullies all my life and I know how to blunt their message. I won’t respond with anger or fear. I won’t comment on their message. I won’t acknowledge their existence. I’ll just stand between them and the Lakelanders who just want to graduate or see their family members graduate. I hope some other Polk County citizens join me in making that buffer.

Hate-Filled Group of Humans Makes Claim to Disrupt Lakeland High School Graduation

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photo credit: Tom Hagerty for Lakeland Local

Reflections

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Explaining the expulsion, Polk County School head flack Leah Lauderdale said: “Unfortunately, what she did falls into our code of conduct. It’s grounds for immediate expulsion.”

That’s fine. Bureaucratic and cautious, but fine. But then she couldn’t resist sticking in the knife further. “We urge our parents to convey to their kids that there are consequences to their actions.”

First of all, for a certain class of kids in drug war, stop-and-frisk, zero tolerance America, consequences lurk everywhere, all the time. Ask Trayvon Martin. Not something they need to be taught. One of America’s greatest myths is that our kids are coddled and spoiled by positive feedback. Look around you and listen. It’s open season on the young. Every day. Most especially the poor and the brown — who make up a big portion of the 65 percent of kids who go traditional schools in Polk County.

And moreover, who in this county — in this school district — has standing to teach that lesson about consequences to Kiera Wilmot, who had apparently made it this far through open season America without even a blemish to her name?

Let’s just review some facts about this school district’s and county’s educational and public leadership:

• The head of facilities was convicted of taking bribes in 2011. Apparently, it was going on for years under the noses of our School Board and administration. No one got fired or unelected because of it. And of course, the people accused of bribing him got off because prosecutors screwed up the indictment. Wonder if that monumental blunder came with any consequences.
• We have a predatory charter school system that shamelessly, openly manipulates its enrollment and then brags about its “success.” There are no consequences for failing to teach the kids it fails it teach. The consequences are all for the kids and the teachers who take on the responsibility of teaching them at other schools. This charter school has a sitting Florida House representative on its board.
• The former superintendent sat impotently for years while factions of adult stakeholders across the county went at each other like they imagine bickering children do. And you know who you are. Who knows how much damage they did to morale and direction at every level. No consequences. She retired for health reasons. Full pension, I’m sure. She earned it.
• For years, the director of charter and magnet schools was allowed to have jurisdiction over her sister, who is the principal at the county showcase magnet school. No consequences.
• When a group of athletes illegally transferred from one school to another to play football, state Senator Kelly Stargel was so interested in consequences that she fought to change to rules to let them do it. I’m sure she’ll get right to work on rewriting Florida’s stupid zero tolerance laws because of Kiera’ case. Right after she’s done trying and failing to grade parents, trigger them, or get rid of their alimony. Consequences? She’ll get re-elected.
• And for good measure — although not exactly a school district issue — the good leaders of Polk County ran a major university out of the county to replace it with a half-built building that looks like an upside-down rotting cow. Consequences? For the Welches, maybe.

That’s all in just the last two or three years. And of course, it’s all metaphor for the country at large, which is big on “consequences” that flow downward through class and power.

And that brings us back to Lauderdale, an heiress of the local agricultural aristocracy. I wonder if she would have been arrested and expelled for making a water bottle go pop back when she went to school? Right. Consequences.

This story really didn’t break out for a couple of days. I missed it at first. It might have died if Lauderdale had made the district’s position banal enough. But I think that “consequences” line rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. At least that’s what I seized on, and I’ve seen many comments in various places saying the same thing. It’s one thing to say laws and rules are inflexible and leave the district and police no choice. (I’m sure that’s false, by the way. Discretion gets used every day.) It’s another entirely to justify the inflexibility as a positive good through some moralistic smack talk. There is no lesson for anyone to teach or learn here.

And now everybody from the Huffington Post to Andrew Sullivan thinks Polk County is populated by bureaucratic sociopaths. If you’re a flack, it’s your job to calm stories, not exacerbate them. How’s she doing? You think there will be any consequences for that incompetence?

The war on kids, particularly those attending traditional public schools, is the challenge of our time. It manifests itself in many ways. And I write about them repetitively. I make no apologies if it gets annoying. Most people agree I’m annoying. I’m 41-years-old. I’ll probably be dead in another 41. Maybe a lot sooner. I don’t care if people like me or think I’m a jerk. But I sure hope to spend some large portion of what’s left of my time getting between some of the powerless kids-these-days and some of the ridiculous adults arrayed against them.

How about some “consequences” for anybody who isn’t 16 and powerless?

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I think I have a local perspective on the controversial decision to start charging for online access to the Ledger.

I’ve stood on both sides of this digital media divide. Growing up, there was nothing greater than my local paper. The men and women who covered local news were the foot soldiers in the Fourth Estate’s battle against corruption. When I became bored with math as a career, I stumbled into journalism. I stumbled back out when I decided I needed better pay and some time for myself.

Because, those of you who haven’t tried it, journalism isn’t a job. It’s a calling and it changes your life. You work many of your waking hours. You try to keep the job and home completely separate, but you fail. Stories don’t happen on a 9-5 schedule. The bad guys don’t send press releases listing their crimes that you can print verbatim and call it a day. There’s a reason you have to “dig” a story. People bury the truth so deep, you need a backhoe. That kind of work takes time and dedication. You certainly don’t do the job for the perks — bad eyesight, hunched back and the full knowledge your retirement fund will be eaten by a corporate raider.

You don’t do it for the readers. Many readers will claim they want good news, but only share the bad. Then they’ll claim all you ever write is bad news. The number of times you’ll hear — “thanks for exposing that crook” — will be low enough you’ll be able to remember most examples. More often you’ll hear your best work was only good enough for wrapping fish.

You don’t do it for the money. The only local journalist I ever met with a huge portfolio started with a trust fund. The pay sucks. The benefits are worse. People think because they learned to write in elementary school, the journalist doesn’t have a talent worth rewarding.

So you work as a journalist for yourself. You get satisfaction out of presenting the news in a manner that helps readers understand complex events that affect their life. You may not hear “kudos” when you shine light on the dark world of government, but when a corrupt politician is voted out of office, you know whose work helped the voters decide.

Local journalists improve their community. How many of us would be glad to know, as we left this world, that we made it a better place through our work? I hope every reader thought “I would.” You would think those commenting on Jerome Ferson’s announcement would consider that work, but…

Many lambasted the paper for daring to charge for a product that contains punctuation and spelling errors. My response: you want everything reported seconds after it appears and you worry about perfect punctuation?! (That’s an interrobang, in case you’re not up on my favorite punctuation.) Now, I also wince when I see a glaring spelling error on the front page. But I wince because I know how streamlined the paper has become in these tight times. There’s just not as much cash on hand for the numerous copy editors, proofreaders and pressmen as there were in the days when papers were error free. (Note to readers: papers were never error free. Ten people could look at a story and every one of them missed the double “of” on line seven.) So, if the few people who have the time to read the story before it goes online missed an extra “i” in digital, well, that’s the price you pay for the 86,400 second a day news cycle. (Who noticed my missing dashes?)

Those who didn’t complain about spelling took the paper to task for charging for something they can get elsewhere for free. I can say something Ferson can’t: You’re dreaming if you think you can get consistent and comprehensive coverage of local government, corporations and corruption for free. TANSTAAFL people.

All the news sources start with someone local putting finger to keyboard. That news you think is free on Yahoo is subsidized by someone. The same is true for Bay News Nine, Tampa Bay Times, Tampa Tribune, Orlando Sentinel and every-single other news source you can name.

But wait, someone shouts from the ether. “What about Lakeland Local?! It was free and you always promised it would stay that way.” I did. It still is.

But if you think the words “comprehensive” or “consistent” when you look at the history of Lakeland Local, you’ve set the bar very low. I was the primary “City Hall” reporter for Lakeland Local these past years. I didn’t cover the city as comprehensively as the team from the Ledger. Sure, maybe I got to a story first a few times, or covered one a little deeper. Usually it was because I could spend as long as I needed without worry of deadline. But I never had the resources that the Ledger could bring to bear. It takes money to request records. It takes copy editors, editors, photographers, and dozens of others to make that front page story pop. You’re not going to get that on a consistent basis from a free online magazine.

Yes, I had a consistent niche where I was usually the lone journalist — live reporting of tedious meetings. Well, that was subsidized. Those few who benefited from reading the blow-by-blow descriptions can thank my wife. She paid for my meals, health insurance and the incidentals that allowed me to be a stay-at-home father and freelance writer. Lakeland Local was what I did in my spare time…and what spare time I had was thanks to her. So, see, even Lakeland Local wasn’t free. You just never had to pay the cost.

So let me finish the headline…

…a great thing.

Kudos to The Ledger for charging for their work. I knew this day would come. Even when others believed the New York Times would keep the locals free, I knew they couldn’t. Primarily because the owner of the New York Times was tired of losing money. Also because of a strange quirk of human behavior. We so rarely respect what we get for free. (Now a good copy editor would have fixed that paragraph, but who can afford a good copy editor?)

Do I agree completely with their pricing structure? Not exactly. I’d give every library and school IP address free access or free accounts. I’d allow articles over a month old outside the paywall. But those are both technical hurdles most newspapers won’t see as needed. They have stockholders who want better returns on their investments.

What The Ledger does need is a way to make journalism pay enough to keep journalism alive. If they don’t figure out a way to do that — Polk County will suffer. Governments, police departments, corporations, bad car salesmen and numerous other “bad guys” have one natural enemy — the unconstrained press*. Make sure you pay enough to keep journalism alive.

* — I would have written “free,” but that seems to have confused a few people.

photo credit: Chuck Welch for Lakeland Local

The Ledger is to Start Charging for Online Access and That’s a….

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Lakelanders are rightfully proud of our history. With every walk through Hollis Garden; with every child’s laugh at Barnett Family Park; with every crack of the bat at Joker Marchant Stadium, we remember the citizens who contributed to that history.

What if a future generation forgets about Joker Marchant or the Barnett and Hollis families? Will their children play in Lake Mirror Park or walk through Lake Mirror Garden? Will Spring Training be in some sponsored Dot.Com Stadium?

In 2013, we sent a message to future generations that we respected our history. That we believed when Lakelanders honor a citizen, subsequent generations should respect that honor. This week the City of Lakeland re-dedicated the Frances Langford Promenade.

In 1946 Lakelanders honored a local woman that worked tirelessly to boost morale for our brave soldiers of World War II. With her bright smile and steamy rendition of “I’m in the Mood for Love” Frances Langford had captivated soldiers in many USO shows. The city wanted a way to honor the Lakeland High School graduate who had become a star of film, radio and recording.

They choose to name the walkway around Lake Mirror after her. On March 29th, 1946 then Governor Millard Caldwell came to Lakeland to dedicate the Frances Langford Promenade. Though she had to leave Lakeland to return to her fast-paced life as a recording and film star, Frances Langford continued her USO work again in Korea and Vietnam. She would state that entertaining troops “was the greatest thing in my life.” “We were there just to do our job, to help make them laugh and be happy if they could,” Langford once told The Associated Press.

For decades Lakelanders boasted that the woman on radio and television, or playing to packed houses in films and concerts was one of their very own. Langford never forgot her roots in Lakeland. She would stay in touch with friends and family. She continued helping Lakeland and Lakelanders, including donations to help Florida Southern College.

For a woman so connected to Lakeland, one so helpful to our soldiers through three wars, it is a surprise more don’t know the promenade was named for her. We believe Lakelanders began to forget their history when the city misplaced the Frances Langford Promenade marker during Lake Mirror restoration. We would like to rectify that error.

Now is the time to replace the marker. It will take $2,000 to replace the plaque. We’re asking for your help.

You can make a tax-deductible donation to the Community Foundation of Greater Lakeland in the name of the Frances Langford Promenade. 100% of that money will go toward the new plaque.

Please donate today. In order to unveil the plaque on July 4, 2013, we need to make the order by May 1st, 2013.

Every $10 helps us reach our goal. And with every walk around the Frances Langford Promenade, you’ll see the results of your donation. With every USO show, on every song, Frances Langford radiated Lakeland cheer and hospitality. With just a moment of your time, you can help generations of Lakelanders remember her selfless dedication to our troops.

Also read: Lake Mirror in 2008

Photo by Tom Hagerty for Lakeland Local

A Rededication to Our History

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Frances Langford Promenade

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