Penalties in Case of Fighting in Schools

Interviewer: So, I guess when two kids fought, they go to the principal’s office, and they might have detention. But nowadays, what? The school will call the police; they’ll be arrested for assault or what will happen?

Dale: What will happen is, first of all they’ll be an expulsion hearing and there will be an expulsion. But the police are always called in for these manners. And what the police is they’ll talk, gather some evidence, and they will submit a complaint to the prosecutor. And almost nine times out of ten they will be charged by the prosecutors as a crime. Many times it’s felonious assault, because the prosecutors tend to overcharge. And I’ve seen many felonious assault cases come from a fight that happened on the school ground.

Interviewer: So even if they’re juveniles the prosecutors still will charge them with that, felony assault?

Dale: Yes.It’s totally different today. Totally different, it’s a much different climate.