(File Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
KENOSHA, Wis. — Kenosha doesn’t need another lecture about how serious it is when kids use guns in the commission of crimes or bring guns around schools. We already know. We’ve lived it.
What Kenosha needs — right now — is a serious conversation about how the criminal justice system is handling juveniles with guns, and whether the people with the power to impose consequences are actually using that power in a way that protects the public, deters the next kid, and treats schools like the high-risk, high-stakes environments they are.
On Feb. 10, prosecutors formally charged two suspects in the fatal shooting of Bradford student Isiah “Zay” Cooper — one juvenile and one adult — with a combined $3 million cash bail remaining in place.
Then, on Feb. 11, police say a loaded, concealed firearm was recovered from a 16-year-old at Bradford High School after an anonymous report and a struggle during a search. Administrators placed the building in a temporary hold during the incident. Police said multiple criminal charges were anticipated.
Then on Feb. 12, police arrested a 15-year-old student at Bradford on an active probation hold detainer, and officers found multiple firearm magazines and ammunition. Police said investigators did not believe a firearm was brought onto school property in that second case.
This is the reality: guns, ammo, magazines, threats, violence, arrests — all colliding with our schools and our courts at the same time.
So the question becomes: when the system meets a juvenile with a gun, what message does it send?
The most glaring example remains the Jaheem Wright case.
Wright was 16 when he brought a loaded handgun to Indian Trail and posted a threatening video that rattled students at Indian Trail and Bradford. Prosecutors asked to waive him into adult court. Judge Chad Kerkman (D) refused. Wright stayed in juvenile court, took a plea deal, and was sentenced to one year in a juvenile detention facility — with the long-term reality that juvenile records are sealed and the public is denied the transparency that comes with adult court consequences.
This is where the system’s approach breaks down.
If an adult walks into a high school with a loaded handgun, the consequences are predictable. Felony charges. A permanent record. The real prospect of years behind prison bars. A clear deterrent message that schools are a hard line.
But when a juvenile does it, the system has options — and in cases like Wright, the option chosen is the one that minimizes exposure, minimizes transparency, and minimizes consequences.
Supporters call it rehabilitation. Critics call it leniency.
It is fair to debate which philosophy is correct. What is not fair is pretending that the choice has no public-safety consequences.
Kids pay attention. They learn quickly what happens to others. They learn whether bringing a gun to school ends a life trajectory — or merely disrupts it temporarily.
Prevention requires deterrence. Deterrence requires consequences that are swift, severe, and meaningful — and a system that treats gun-in-school cases as a bright red line.
Kenosha’s justice system — prosecutors and judges alike — must decide whether that line truly exists.
Because once it blurs, the number of juveniles willing to test it may keep rising.
And that is not a gamble this community can afford.
The real test is coming.
Juvenile defense attorneys understand the landscape. They know the difference between judges. They know when to substitute and when not to. If they believe a different courtroom increases the odds of adult exposure or harsher consequences, they make that move. If they believe a particular judge is more inclined to keep cases in juvenile court, they don’t.
That isn’t conspiracy. That’s strategy.
And when patterns emerge — when certain judges become known for retaining serious gun cases in juvenile court rather than sending them to adult court — word spreads quickly in the legal community.
Judge Chad Kerkman is up for re-election in 2027. Between now and then, voters will have the opportunity to examine his record — not the campaign mailers, not the slogans — but the actual decisions made in cases involving juveniles with firearms in schools.
Judicial philosophy is not abstract. It has consequences.
If another juvenile with a gun pulls the trigger and someone dies, the public will look back at the choices made in prior cases and ask whether stronger deterrence could have made a difference. Whether adult court should have been used more aggressively. Whether the line should have been drawn more firmly.
Judges are not legislators. They don’t write the laws. But they do interpret them. And when the law allows discretion — especially in waiver decisions — how that discretion is exercised matters.
The community deserves transparency about that record. It deserves debate about whether current practices prioritize rehabilitation over deterrence in situations where the stakes are life and death.
Because when it comes to guns in schools, this isn’t theoretical anymore.
It’s a test of judgment.
And those judgments will ultimately be evaluated by the people.
22 Responses
Excellent piece of writing there Kevin. Very timely as this escalates. Do we get ahead of it or wait too long?
I also think there needs to be changes to the policies not only for KUSD but statewide regarding students on felony probation or probation of any kind especially if the students are 18+ and are still attending in person school. I Believe there needs to be more limitations for students on felony probation besides not being able to play sports. There needs to be much stricter policies for students on felony probation who have committed offenses related to drugs, guns and violence instead of only the ones who have committed offenses of a sexual nature.
I’m my opinion if you are 18+ and on felony probation for one of the above listed offenses, you have lost your right to attend in person public school and have the ability to influence other students. At that point you are an adult and you need to handle to consequences of your actions. And for the ones under 18, the should have to do online learning or attend an alternative school.
Enough is enough. I’m sick and tired of the minority group being protected and accommodated while the majority is put in danger.
Students on felony probation should be enrolled in distant leaning and shouldn’t be allowed on school property. These students need to be left behind and their guardian should be imprisoned.
This is exactly why gun charges need to hold maximum penalty. You know like berg selling to felons? How you think this shit gets to the kids. Not law abiding gun
Exactly! What isn’t Kenosha exposed writing about a case that sold guns and drugs while a kid was in the home? Because she’s buddies with the loser! She cares so much about justice and crime, but not against her buddies.
Funny berg is brought up. Just read a comment on a what’s happening in Kenosha. That turd is claiming he’s innocent and telling others how to parent after he don’t pay child support and lost custody for selling drugs and gun. What a fucken loser Hope you read this Andy. You have no seat at any table
For “juveniles” shouldn’t the parents or guardian hold some responsibility??
10000%
Who would dislike this? Just let shitty parents be shitty parents with no consequences huh? Must be a shitty parent with a kid on probation
I’m thinking that some parents simply cannot control their kids, and this is reinforced by leniency in the laws and courts when the early behavior starts.
We need people to stand up and vote bad judges like Kerkman and other bad actors out!!
Our judges are failing with adult weapons charges.Thats where the trouble starts.
Sometimes all that’s needed is some common sense.
There are people who annoy us.
There are people who scare us.
And there are people who just made a mistake.
You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out where someone who brings a loaded gun in a school fits in that pecking order.
Things only will get worse. The false democracy has failed
Tru dat, it’s downhill from here
Kerkman should of charged the kid at Indian Trail as an adult. So sick of these gangster thugs getting a slap on the hand! He brought a loaded gun to school! What does it take, him killing a teacher or innocent students! Enough already! Kerkman is useless!
At the least, we might need to rename the school Ruether again? like a warning.
The coward weak children that have to use a gun to solve their problems should all be court ordered to join the military, maybe they would learn what a gun is used for. Maybe they also would learn respect in life, and become a better parent rather than the non-caring parent that raised them. I’m glad my children are grown and made something of themselves. Sad for most of the young generation these days, they have no respect for nothing. They live in a very sad generation. Feel sorry for the grandparents that have to put up with the way these kids act.
You have something there
Parental accountability is key also. When it turns out to be a parents firearm, if parents are not responsible enough to control their own children and responsibly store firearms, especially when they should be the first to know their child has issues, there must be consequences for the parents.
This is all by design. The clowns in local office hate YOU, the city, the county, and the state. The sooner everyone realizes this the better. They all have names. They are mortal. They are not gods.