Legal Question in Civil Rights Law in Florida

Two girls both age 15 are caught shoplifting at sears outlet store in palm beach county, Florida...they are processed with paperwork in the sears office; one girl stole $18.00 worth of merchandise and the other stole $21.00 worth of merchandise. the girl who stole $18 is released to her parents and told by the store that they will let her family deal with this. the girl who stole $21 is handcuffed, processed, fingerprinted, and sent to a Juvenile court where her family had to pick her up. the following day, her family had to call the juvenile court to find out what to do...the person in charge of the case read the police report, which stated that she acted alone...why did one girl go home to her parents with no repercussions and the other girl get prosecuted? the family wants to fight this if any discrimination by the store was involved. Neither one has had any prior convictions. the girl who was prosecuted has NEVER been in trouble with the law...


Asked on 3/29/11, 11:43 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Joseph Vredevelt Best Vredevelt & Associates

Unfortunately, it is up to stores as to who they choose to turn into the police for prosecution. There could be many reasons as to why they prosecuted one and not the other, if you are interested in looking into this matter contact a civil attorney.

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Answered on 3/30/11, 6:42 pm


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