Kelly Williams-Bolar was convicted by a Ohio jury on a felony charge of falsifying public documents. Williams-Bolar wanted to get her children into a better school district. In her own school district the schools were underfunded, overcrowded and she had concerns about her children's safety there. In the neighboring school district, Copley-Fairlawn, the schools were highly ranked and very desirable. Williams-Bolar's father lived in the Copley-Fairlawn school district, so she registered her children at her father's address and transported them herself from her home.
The school board was apparently hyper-vigilant about people who were sneaking their children into their highly rated schools, because they hired a private investigator to follow Williams-Bolar. They discovered that she was transporting the children from her home in the other school district and made a criminal complaint against her. The school board also asked her to pay $30,000 for the children's tuition in their district.
When Williams-Bolar refused to pay the money to the school board, she was indicted for falsifying public records. The case was tried before a jury who convicted Williams-Bolar of the felony and sentenced her to serve 10 days in jail, serve community service and complete three years of probation.
The question that this case raises is did Williams-Bolar really need to be convicted of a felony? Felonies are the highest level of criminal offenses, they often result in a loss of voting rights. Most states and the federal government consider felony offenses to encompass more than a year in prison.
The jury obviously didn't think the behavior merited a year in prison, they only sentenced her to 10 days. The other parts of her sentence, community service and probation, could also have been given to her in a misdemeanor conviction.
Williams-Bolar did not have have a prior record of criminal convictions. Did she really need a conviction at all, much less a felony? The judge could have taken her case under advisement for 6 months or a year and dismissed her charge if she was of good behavior and did her community service or whatever the judge may have wanted her to do. Wouldn't that have been a better lesson to her children? And wouldn't that have served the community better than branding her with a felony conviction that will affect her ability to get a job forever.
The first failure in the chain of events that led to this illogical and counterproductive outcome was the school board's insistence of receiving $30,000 to avoid being charged. If a citizen would have done that, he would have been charged with extortion. The second failure was with the prosecutors who controlled the nature of the charge and how it could have been addressed by the court. The prosecutors could have made this charge a misdemeanor, and they could have asked the judge to take the case under advisement. Instead, they chose to try her on the felony charge, and convict her as a felon as a result. The third failure was with the jury. The logic behind the jury trial is that at least one person out of twelve would be able to do the right thing. That lone juror who denies a unanimous verdict is the safety valve of the entire justice system. Not one person stepped forward and questioned whether this should be a felony or whether she should be convicted of a felony for her actions.
A big part of Williams-Bolar's difficulties with the criminal justice system, however, was that she is a compulsive liar. Her lies got her into the predicament and she tried to lie her way out. She had her father lie for her and he also falsified public records. She lied during her trial to gain the juror's sympathy, inflating her colege credentials and claiming to be about to graduate with a teaching degree when she hadn't even finished the prerequisites to get into the school of teaching.
So maybe the jury convicted her for all of her lying, although she was charged with only one lie. In the end, Williams-Bolar will not be a teacher until she can obtain a pardon from the Governor, and in out of a situation that began with her interest in finding a better school for her kids, she ended up jeopardizing forever her ability to provide for them financially. Surely she deserves some of the blame, but it is also just as true that the government and prosecutors lacked common sense in their handling of this case.
Ohio Mom Kelley Williams-Bolar Jailed for Sending Kids to Better School District
Crying, Akron mom Kelley Williams-Bolar begs Ohio Parole Board to pardon her