The Louisville Courier-Journal had an article about charges that were filed against a 5 year old. The article reads:

“He was charged — along with his brothers, who are 11 and 9 — with criminal mischief and criminal trespassing after being accused of walking on and scratching a neighbor’s vehicle with a stick, rock and lighter, causing more than $3,000 in damage.

While Deweese ultimately ruled that she could not even arraign the boy because he couldn’t understand the charges against him, the public defender’s office said this type of prosecution has become an all-too common occurrence in juvenile court: children too young to understand criminal proceedings being ushered into a courtroom to face justice.”

This reminds of the case of the kindergartener from Florida who was arrested for throwing a temper tantrum at school. We really need to get a handle on all this upcharging in the criminal legal system. The Louisville case focuses needed attention to the “cradle to prison pipeline” which is pushing so many youth (especially of color) into the criminal legal system.

The article in the Courier-Journal continues:

Just last week a 6-year-old and two 7-year-olds where charged and brought before judges in juvenile court, public defenders said.

“This case never should have been brought to court,” public defender Carlos Wood said, in an interview, of the 5-year-old child, who he represented. “There should have been more oversight before it got to court.”

Jefferson County Attorney Mike O’Connell agreed that the charging of the 5-year-old was a mistake and that prosecutors need to better scrutinize cases involving young children before waiving them into the courtroom.

Only God knows how traumatized this 5 year old was based on this horrific experience of being dragged to court.