Will Students at Calabasas High School Be Charged with Vandalism or a Hate Crime?
That’s the decision that the Los Angeles District Attorney will make this Friday regarding three Calabasas high school students. This question was triggered by the numerous swastikas, racial slurs and picture of Adolf Hitler that the students painted on walls, lockers and sidewalks at the school. Normally this type of graffiti would undoubtedly prompt the D.A. to charge the suspects with a hate crime. However, the office hasn’t yet decided whether to go this route or whether to simply charge the students with vandalism.
California and federal hate crime legislation impose severe penalties upon those individuals who harm, threaten or harass others based on their race, national origin, disability, religion, sex, gender or sexual orientation. Clearly the type of graffiti that was left at the school meets this criteria.
It appears that the D.A. is wavering because the students who allegedly committed this crime may have been “bullied” into doing so. These students maintain a 4.0 grade point average, have no criminal history and apparently have been “picked on” by several students whose names the suspects “tagged” at the school.
If prosecuted as hate crimes, the 11th grade students could face felony convictions that could lead to spending a substantial number of years in the state prison. However, vandalism is a less serious offense and is typically prosecuted as a misdemeanor, subjecting an offender to a maximum one-year in a county jail.
