Juveniles, accidents and angry mothers

Angry mothers came in threes Monday morning, the first day back from my two-day hiatus from my position of CEO of complaint central.

Over the weekend, we reported on two fairly serious car accidents involving juvenile drivers and passengers. One driver, according to police, was only 14 years old.

Angry mom No. 1 was mad because we didn't get her permission to put her son's name in the paper. Short, and impolite-sounding answer: We don't need her permission. Second, more polite answer: The police are obligated by law to give us this information on car accidents, and we feel we have an obligation to publish these names in the interest of public safety and the public's right to know about road safety.

The law prohibits authorities from releasing names of juveniles charged with misdemeanor crimes for the most part. For felony level offenses, if juveniles do the crime, or are accused of it, they will have their name in the newspaper. In traffic accidents, the law is fairly specific. Juveniles names must be released.

Angry and more frustrated mom No. 2 just wanted to know why her son's name was in the paper. People were making crank calls, insulting her mothering abilities. Again, same answer. Police must give us this information. She wanted to do something to let people know she did all she could to keep her son at home and out of trouble, but alas, was not successful.

She may write a letter to the editor, and we will indeed publish it.

Mother No. 3 took issue with her son being named as the driver. The police stand by their report.

A couple of the mothers wondered why we reported the names of juveniles in one accident and not the other. One was published Saturday, the other Sunday.

That was related somewhat to the timing and the law enforcement agency involved. State Patrol provided us the information on the first accident, and they are very quick to provide media as much as possible as soon as possible. They're staffed to do so.

Blue Earth County Sheriffs office handled the other one and they usually have limited staff on weekends, so sometimes it takes a while for them to get us all the pertinent information. To their credit, they did provide the names of the other juveniles Monday night.

I'm always a little amazed that people expect secrecy when they are involved in things that threaten public safety and involve public officials paid by tax dollars. It's not a question of an arrogant media, but providing information to taxpayers on how their money is being spent.