Last Updated: May 26, 1999
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What would you do?
When to publish juvenile suspects’ names
By Lorraine Branham
Here’s the problem
A 14-year-old boy is shot and critically wounded by another teen, 15,
during a fight after school. The 15-year-old is charged with the crime.
Because they are juveniles, police won’t release the names. Your reporter
has managed to obtain the names of both youths from other sources. The
victim and his family agree to be interviewed, photographed and named in
the story. The attacker’s family adamantly refuses to do so. The reporter
writes a compelling story which does not name the attacker. His editor
questions whether they should use one name and not the other. What would
you do?
With juvenile crime on the rise, newspapers are increasingly faced with
questions regarding the reporting of crime stories involving juvenile victims
and suspects. There are no clearcut answers. Sometimes the matter is totally
out of an editor’s hands. Police in many communities will not release a
juvenile suspect’s name unless he or she is charged as an adult or if the
crime is a felony Some won’t release those names at all in an effort to
protect offenders. And police may or may not release a teen-age victim’s
name, depending on the seriousness of the attack.
Little wonder that newspaper polices also vary regarding the naming
of young suspects and victims in stories.
Most newspapers will use the name of juvenile victims unless there is
some concern about the safety or privacy of the victim — providing they
can obtain the name from police.
Some say circumstances or the nature of the crime — not whether the
juvenile is charged as an adult — is the determining factor in whether
to publish the name. In those cases, if they believe circumstances warrant
it, they will publish a juvenile’s name if they can get it. A few papers
say they do not name juvenile suspects under any circumstances.
When questions arise about the naming of juveniles, the issue is usually
bumped up to top editors to make the call. If they decide to go with the
name, some papers make a point of explaining to readers why they decided
to do so.
To ponder this question, we asked James Mallory, assistant managing
editor/nights for The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution, Robert
Shaw, managing editor of the Tallahassee (Fla.) Democrat and William W.
Sutton Jr., assistant managing editor/weekends of the Raleigh (N.C.) News
& Observer.
James Mallory
I think the reporter handled the situation correctly by leaving the
suspect’s name out. At the AJC, our general policy is that we do not publish
the name of a juvenile suspect unless he or she has been charged as an
adult. That does not appear to be the case here.
When the story is written, it should include the fact that police did
not release the suspect’s name because he is a juvenile.
Since the family of the other teen agreed to an interview, I would use
his name and explain why. But since the suspect’s family refused to participate,
I would want reassurance that the reporter has confirmed any information
that pertains to the suspect. Is his side of the story fairly represented?
The wounded teen’s family has a bias; the other sources could also be prejudiced
against the suspect.
Robert Shaw
We wouldn’t publish the kid’s name. Generally, out policy is to not
print the names of juveniles unless they are charged as adults. Here’s
why:
The premise behind juvenile confidentiality is that kids make mistakes
— sometimes big ones — in part because they lack the sense and maturity
to know better. They ought to have the opportunity to atone for and learn
from those mistakes, without being handicapped by them for the rest of
their lives. That’s why the juvenile system was set up.
Prosecutors have been granted the discretion to bypass that system and
try juveniles as adults. Responsible prosecutors do so only when they see
the crime as sufficiently vicious, and the child sufficiently mature, as
to warrant greater sanctions than the juvenile system allows. These days,
it seems, prosecutors need little excuse to waive confidentiality and bind
kids over as adults.
The fact that the prosecution hasn’t done so in this case makes me wonder
why. Is the case weak? (and let’s keep in mind: the 15-year-old has been
accused, but not yet convicted.)
Are the circumstances such that the shooting could have been an accident?
The result of a struggle that involved both boys? Which boy had the gun?
What was the history between these two boys? (Had the "victim," for example,
aggressively tormented the older boy, finally precipitating an outburst?)
The media have potentially enormous influence over the rest of this
kid’s life. Print his name, and he’ll be forever identified as an accused
murderer. In the absence of any answers as to why prosecutors don’t want
to name him, we shouldn’t either. Naming him does nothing to help the victim
— and may do irreparable (and perhaps unwarranted) damage to the other
boy.
Will Sutton
No, I wouldn’t run the story. Our policy is that we don’t name juveniles
except in unusual circumstances and only after a discussion with a senior
editor.
This story sounds like a good one — if we can get more information on
the record and for attribution with those involved. It’s nice to have the
victim’s family talking, but they have the concern of their loved one at
the core. It would concern me to run the names of the victim and his family
without running the names of the suspect.
Perhaps there’s a story here that needs more time to develop. Maybe
the reporter can work with an editor to develop a story about the intersection
of the lives of these two teens. That story may not need names but it isn’t
a daily and would certainly involved conversations with editors.
Branham is senior vice president and executive editor of the Tallahassee
(Fla.) Democrat.
