Failed Lessons In The Williams-Bolar Case

Ever notice how the phrase "personal responsibility" has been sorely missing from those who would support giving Akron school mom Kelley Williams-Bolar a walk?

The list of supporters is pretty extensive, albeit not so much here at home where Akron and Copley-Fairlawn parents and citizens are no doubt suffering from reader's fatigue at this point.

But it is the story that won't go away, partly because these issues large and small run so deep and personal.

My friend Steve Hoffman of the Akron Beacon Journal -- and yes, I still consider him a friend even while I call out their editorials -- did the best job yet of laying out the big picture case. It's the second paragraph from Thursday's column I'm having a bit of trouble digesting:

"The first, learned the hard way by Williams-Bolar, the Copley-Fairlawn schools, Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh and Judge Patricia Cosgrove, is that the punishment (felony convictions) far outweighed the crime (tampering with documents)." - Akron Beacon Journal February 3, 2011

Steve's point is the lessons learned from this whole fiasco. Unfortunately, it highlights just how much further Williams-Bolar apologists need to go in learning their lessons.

Just to review -- again:

• supporters think it wasn't "proportional" to charge Williams-Bolar with felony counts, apparently ignoring Ohio law that defines records tampering as a felony. There's no doubt she lied on records again and again. That's records tampering;
• supporters think Prosecutor Bevan Walsh and Judge Cosgrove should have stepped in and ignored the state law and bumped the charges down to misdemeanors, apparently ignoring the willful, continued and tenacious refusal of Williams-Bolar to show even the slightest contrition for breaking the law;
• even if a plea bargain deal had been arrived at -- and it didn't come up, sources tell me, until the week before the three-year old case went to trial -- let's remember it takes more than one to tango. Williams-Bolar still doesn't admit to wrongdoing, shows no remorse, and when pressed says she should be exonerated.

Copley-Fairlawn schools investigated, held hearings, presented Williams-Bolar with their evidence, sent multiple invoices for tuition, offered a payment plan most parents would have killed (as opposed to lying) for and spent the better part of three years trying to work out the issue as adults. Put an ear to the speaker and listen to the residency hearing for a taste of just what tenacity sounds like. It's not the schools; it is those who broke the law and wouldn't take individual responsibility for their actions.

Attorneys working for Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh didn't make up the felony records tampering charges; they were doing their job, following the law and the evidence you can see with your own eyes. It included an absolute decision from Juvenile Court Judge Linda Tucci Teodosio rejecting a petition for power of attorney request from Edward Williams. Note in the paperwork you can read for yourself: Williams used the petition as evidence in his exchanges with Copley-Fairlawn schools, even though it was never true.

Judge Cosgrove, who along with Prosecutor Bevan Walsh has suffered the worst injustice to their reputations through this entire sordid affair, certainly showed far more compassion and respect for the defendant than Kelley Williams-Bolar showed for the justice system.

Critics say the sentence and felony charges weren't "proportional" to the crime.

Cosgrove could have sentenced Williams-Bolar to five years in prison; she didn't choose five, four, three, two or even one year. Cosgrove didn't sentence Williams-Bolar to six months, 90 days or even 30 days in prison. She sent an unrepentant and in-denial Williams-Bolar to the Summit County Jail for 10 days -- and even worked to let her out after nine days. She expressed the opinion she wished there had been a deal for a misdemeanor. The Judge might want to reconsider in light of continued revelations on the depth of the lies of this case.

There could have been an order requiring Williams-Bolar to pay at least some of the tuition benefits taken by fraudulent means from Copley-Fairlawn schools, yet not one dime of restitution was ordered. Probation of two years will cost the State of Ohio far more to administer than the inconvenience to Williams-Bolar.

The Williams family should thank God they had Cosgrove hearing the case.

Much has been made of the felony convictions now part of Williams-Bolar's record. She earned them. A jury found her guilty, and voted 11-1 to convict her of theft. Could these have been dealt down to misdemeanors? We won't know because one of the first steps of a plea deal -- admitting guilt to something, anything, was not part of the strategy Williams-Bolar has followed since Day One. Admission and apology are part of a plea deal.

Much has been made of the felonies prohibiting her from working as a teacher, yet the law doesn't prohibit her from working. It's Akron's policy regarding teachers with a felony, and in point of fact the Akron Public Schools will welcome Williams-Bolar back to the fold without even a hearing.

I'm not one of those who think she shouldn't be hired back. To the contrary, I don't believe this crime -- even as a felony -- warrants dismissal. That would be too severe, but not even a personnel hearing? It is disturbing the Akron school administration ignores its own policies regarding employees with felony convictions. Talk about lessons learned; will that outlook still hold true for the next APS worker in a jam? Is the lesson to teachers, students and workers to deny everything? Is cherry picking discipline really the lesson you want to send the children?

We hear much about personal accountability, but in a case where it would have avoided so much heartbreak there has been none.

To the apologists, I'd appreciate your answer to these questions:

• do you really think this case would have gone this far had Williams-Bolar not dug in her heels and piled lie upon lie atop a foundation of lies?
• does it impact you in any way that Williams-Bolar still refuses to accept responsibility?
• if you had been in the same shoes as Williams-Bolar, would you have taken responsibility?

Note I'm not asking how you feel about school choice, open v closed enrollment, equality in education, or school funding. This case isn't about any of those issues. Williams-Bolar says it wasn't about quality of education, it was about finding a safer place for her kids when they weren't in school.

The lesson plan is: what would you do?

Frankly, I'm Ashamed

This weekend should have been fairly routine. Diane and I headed up to see her mother in Michigan, recovering from some pretty serious health issues. The newsroom seemed in good hands with plans to cover the Road Runner Marathon, Akron's farewell to Rex Humbard, the Indians on a playoff roll and the Browns looking to beat the Ravens. What's to go wrong?

Plenty.

Monday afternoon I got an e-mail and phone message from Laurie Cramer at the Prosecutor's Office, but because of tasks on my schedule for today didn't get a chance to see until late in the day she was alerting me to our story coverage last week where we dropped the ball.

Some of you have been following the coverage of the Tayse trial, the story of the Pennsylvania man charged with abducting and assaulting a Pittsburgh-area mother and her daughter before releasing them here in Ohio. He was found guilty. They were hoping for justice in Summit County, where Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh personally handled presenting the state's case of crimes that crossed state lines.

As you'll see in our AkronNewsNow story, edited earlier this afternoon, the names of the victims of this horrible crime were included in our original coverage. Not only did we make this mistake on Thursday of last week when the trial first went to the jury, but we also repeated the error on Friday. There is no excuse.

We've since removed the names because as a matter of policy we don't normally report the ID of victims of sex crimes, especially when it involves children. In fact, the only time I remember identifying the victims of sexual assault locally was the Denny Ross rape case a few years ago, and that was only because the victim insisted upon it. My personal and professional view is that we should never report the name of the victim unless it is by prior consent or, as in the Duke lacrosse allegations case, the charges are found to be without merit by clear and convincing evidence and the accuser becomes the accused. We've had such discussions on numerous occasions in the newsroom, usually in the coverage of high-profile cases but also in coverage of other, less headline-grabbing accounts.

We failed in our coverage of the Tayse trial, and worse we failed to correct our actions in a timely and professional manner when it was brought to our attention. When the Prosecutor's office first called to alert us the victims found their names in our coverage, we should have acted immediately to correct our story and apologize; instead, we left the issue in voicemail for another day.

I contacted Laurie and apologized for our original coverage; I apologized for our failure to appropriately edit the coverage on multiple levels; and I apologized for the lack of a response deserved by not only the Prosecutor but also the victims in this crime. They were victims of our actions and our inaction, and there is no excuse. We can apologize, but that will not repair the damage.

It isn't against the law to identify victims of crime, nor do I think it should be. Many times reporting the news is an ugly business, but making these decisions should be a constant subject of debate in every newsroom. News departments will fashion their own policies according to their own ethics and standards, and news consumers will make the ultimate judgment on whether those organizations earned their trust and respect.

We all work hard toward that goal, but there are times when we don't work hard enough. The problem isn't when we worry about what we do but when we don't worry about why; in this case we didn't protect a family in Pennsylvania who deserved better, we didn't serve our audience who should expect higher standards and we weren't true to our own sense of personal values that should drive us to question why, especially when that question is turned to ourselves.

We apologize on all counts.