Dealing With Anti-Semitism in 2012

Even in Northridge today, which has a highly diverse population and where more than 30 percent of residents are foreign born, anti-semitism can still occur.

Last Wednesday, to helping her middle school daughter and two of her friends deface homes with maple syrup swastikas, human feces and toilet paper, according to the City Attorney's office.

Deputy City Attorney Ayelet Feiman, who worked on the case, said that the City Attorney's office's goal when negotiating the sentence was to educate on the impact of her actions and also to have her give back to the community that she harmed.  

“We really tried to focus on what type of punishment would best have an impact on the defendant and her future behavior,” Feiman said.

Feiman said that they took a lot of things into consideration when negotiating the sentence, including the nature of the offense, the defendant’s criminal history and input from the victims, one of whom is the child of a Holocaust survivor.

“We focused primarily on the education component and also we thought it was important that she give back to the community that she actually harmed,” Feiman said.

Feiman said that the City Attorney’s office considered several different agencies and found that Jewish Family Services (JFS) SOVA Food Pantry was a good fit.

At SOVA, each month, more than 12,000 men, women and children come for free groceries and supportive services, according to the program's website. 

Feiman said that they decided on JFS based on the organization’s willingness to accept Whelpley.

“Some organizations didn’t want her there to do the community service,” Feiman said. “The Jewish Family Services SOVA Food Pantry has plenty of work that needs to be done and it’s an organization that is accustomed to having volunteers and community service participants there.”

Feiman said she hoped having Whelpley in that environment will help educate her on the importance of what they do and the Jewish foundation of the organization.  

“I’m hopeful that she will be educated a little bit more,” Feiman said. “I believe they provide an introduction to what they do, what it’s about, the importance of giving back to the community, the importance of taking care of people and the importance of the history of the organization.”

Although not part of her direct sentence, Feiman said she was aware that Whelpley also has attended a Museum of Tolerance program with her daughter, through the juvenile justice system.

In addition, based on the nature of the offense, Feiman said she is also assigned to do one year of parenting classes and will also pay a fee, typical in these cases.

“We thought all those things together would have a powerful impact on the defendant,” Feiman said. “The victims in this case were satisfied with that as well, and we like to take their thoughts into consideration when we were coming to the negotiated place.”

For Feiman, she said it is sad that she is still seeing cases like this come into her office.

“It’s just surprising that in 2012 something like this can happen and it really stresses the fact that it’s important to continue to educate people about history and the atrocities that have happened in the past,” Feiman said. “I do believe that justice was served in this case.”

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