In a recent report from North Carolina, a case involving a 6-year-old boy is gaining media attention after he was forced to appear in court for allegedly picking a tulip from a yard near his bus stop.
The article in question, which was published earlier this month by Virginia Bridges for the Herald-Sun, begins with a description of the six-year-olds legs “dangling” above the floor as he sat with his counsel, Julie Boyer, in juvenile court on an accusation of damage to real property.
According to Boyer’s report, she gave the young boy a coloring book and crayons and told him to “color a picture” while the proceedings were going on.
The report also states that the 6-year-old’s mother was unable to attend an intake meeting, which meant he had to go before a judge himself, as required by regional law. When the judge learned of the situation, he dismissed the lawsuit.
Bridges’ noted in her report that nearly 7,300 lawsuits were lodged against children aged 6 to 11 between 2015 and 2018. Despite the fact that only 22% of the state’s population is Black, and 70% is white, 47% of the complaints were directed at Black children.
Many social justice advocates and other organizations, like the National Juvenile Justice Network, are working hard to increase the age for juvenile prosecutions (such as the one that required a 6-year-old boy to testify before a judge).
