Girl commits suicide. Is sheriff overstepping boundaries?

[TheBlackCatCrossing]

Analysis: Critics say Polk Sheriff Grady Judd is overstepping his bounds

TAMPA (FOX 13) - Polk County Grady Judd is no stranger to the national spotlight, but his decision Tuesday to name and show two underage girls under arrest was over the top, some critics say.

The girls are 12 and 14 years old. They were arrested Monday night in connection with the suicide of 12-year-old Rebecca Sedwick.

Sedwick killed herself after relentless bullying, her family and authorities said.

That bullying was spearheaded by the two girls under arrest.

(FOX 13 generally does not name juveniles under arrest.)

When Judd announced their arrests, he named them and showed their photos.

That's when some say he went beyond his duties.

Tampa defense attorney Jeff Brown says Polk Sheriff Grady Judd is just that -- a sheriff.

"He is just a sheriff. He is not a judge, he's not a lawyer, he is not the state attorney's office, he's not representing these girls. So he is doing an awful lot of pre-judging, he's bringing a lot of his side of the facts out there, and maybe these are the facts. But I don't understand why he can't let the system play out, why he can't let the people who are the lawyers -- not the sheriff -- investigate the case, look into what's going on here, and then have a judge decide what the appropriate penalty or sentence is, and see about the proper way to handle this in a courtroom."

Brown said it seems that Judd wants to skip the court system.

"If find that very odd from someone who is sworn to uphold the law. He seems to just ignore skip the rest of the system and the court and try to do it all himself," Brown said.

He added that we should not judge the two girls too quickly.

"Let's let the system play out. There may be an appropriate time to make them the example of what went on. But now is not the time. Now is the time to find out what went on, and let the professionals, not Sheriff Judd, look into this."

In the meantime, the parents of the girls emerged Wednesday with stories that countered Judd's narrative.

The 14-year-old's parents said her Facebook had been hacked; her mother told ABC News she checked her daughter's Facebook everytime she used it.

The 12-year-old's father said she is a top-notch student and not the monster that she seems to be in the media.

While the facts and stories are sorted out, Brown says it was inappropriate to name the girls.

"He followed the law. But I just don't think that was appropriate. I would hope he would have more restraint and let the system work, and not try to do all branches of the system. He's just the sheriff," Brown said.

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I work in education and bullying is a very sensitive issue for me. I am glad he called the little monsters out. I know that there are a lot of young kids here. I was wondering what you thought. Have you experienced bullying? Do you think the sheriff is right? I will give a more detailed review in a bit.

[Regulus]

I'm not sure I understand what's going on here. So, the two girls were framed by the sheriff before their trial?

I agree that bullying is a serious issue, but let's at least let the system work the way it was intended to. Only in Polk county...

[TheBlackCatCrossing]

[quote="Regulus"]I'm not sure I understand what's going on here. So, the two girls were framed by the sheriff before their trial?

I agree that bullying is a serious issue, but let's at least let the system work the way it was intended to. Only in Polk county...[/quote]


No, the two girls were arrested because they were the ones who drove a 12 year old girl to commit suicide, according to the sheriff. The victim's mother moved her daughter to another school but the stalking continued. Critics are arguing that he shouldn't have named them.

[Woeler]

Yes, bullying is bad.
Yes, the death is tragic.
Can we hold 12 year old kids responsible? I'm not so sure.

Unfortunately these things do happen, but kids do not make rational decisions. And this is the consequence of that phenomenon happening on both sides.

Moral codes are taught. Yes, you can blame the children, but you can blame the parents even more.

[TheBlackCatCrossing]

[quote="Woeler"]Yes, bullying is bad.
Yes, the death is tragic.
Can we hold 12 year old kids responsible? I'm not so sure.

Unfortunately these things do happen, but kids do not make rational decisions. And this is the consequence of that phenomenon happening on both sides.

Moral codes are taught. Yes, you can blame the children, but you can blame the parents even more.[/quote]

I agree, especially with the bold.

Here is this as well.

1. Kids are smart, like, extremely smart that it is scary. Add I technology which you really can't ignore, it only exacerbates the situation.

2. I noticed that the Sheriff is older. He is a grandfather. In his day, obviously issues like this were handled between the two parties involved. Even he notices that it's gotten very aggressive.

How is bullying handled in your country? Anyone else? What constitutes bullying? And when is it kids being kids?

[Regulus]

[quote="TheBlackCatCrossing"]What constitutes bullying? And when is it kids being kids?[/quote]

Bullying is kids being kids, to a large extent. The two are by no means mutually exclusive.

[KingCub]

In my personal experience and from I have seen, schools here never have bulling to this extent. So I find it hard to believe that suicide was the only option for the girl, but not saying that its not. I just find that there is always a better way to deal with these kinds of situations other then just backing out of it all together. I dont know what was going on in her real life, so I cant base anything off on that. But, If it was just over Social Media, then guess what? Once you turn off your computer, the problem goes away.

Now, I do think that the two girls should face punishment from the law. Social media is still a relatively new thing, and I don't think that there are enough laws to protect this sort of thing from happening. So, I think they do deserve it. She did do it, and there is no hiding that port. The parents of the two girls and being extremely stupid, in how they still don't think that there child did in fact bully her. Facebook hacked...pfff, what a bunch of BS. I cant say that it is the parents fault, but they should also have some sort of punishment, as it is there child. And because she is still a child, she is under your responsibility.

[zerodix]

the sheriff did a good deed, and should be praised for that, not judged. these two girls, no matter their ages, brought somebody so far she committed suicide. that means these two girls are a danger to society and I really hoped they are putted away for a long time, because I have the experience these kind of people can do a lot of damage to society.