14 year old Texas girl gets 7 years in prison for shoving Hall Monitor

[Beast]

To some in Paris, sinister past is back

In Texas, a white teenager burns down her family's home and receives probation. A black one shoves a hall monitor and gets 7 years in prison. The state NAACP calls it `a signal to black folks.'


PARIS, Texas -- The public fairgrounds in this small east Texas town look ordinary enough, like so many other well-worn county fair sites across the nation. Unless you know the history of the place.

There are no plaques or markers to denote it, but several of the most notorious public lynchings of black Americans in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries were staged at the Paris Fairgrounds, where thousands of white spectators would gather to watch and cheer as black men were dragged onto a scaffold, scalded with hot irons and finally burned to death or hanged

Brenda Cherry, a local civil rights activist, can see the fairgrounds from the front yard of her modest home, in the heart of the "black" side of this starkly segregated town of 26,000. And lately, Cherry says, she's begun to wonder whether the racist legacy of those lynchings is rebounding in a place that calls itself "the best small town in Texas."

"Some of the things that happen here would not happen if we were in Dallas or Houston," Cherry said. "They happen because we are in this closed town. I compare it to 1930s."

There was the 19-year-old white man, convicted last July of criminally negligent homicide for killing a 54-year-old black woman and her 3-year-old grandson with his truck, who was sentenced in Paris to probation and required to send an annual Christmas card to the victims' family.

There are the Paris public schools, which are under investigation by the U.S. Education Department after repeated complaints that administrators discipline black students more frequently, and more harshly, than white students.

And then there is the case that most troubles Cherry and leaders of the Texas NAACP, involving a 14-year-old black freshman, Shaquanda Cotton, who shoved a hall monitor at Paris High School in a dispute over entering the building before the school day had officially begun.

The youth had no prior arrest record, and the hall monitor--a 58-year-old teacher's aide--was not seriously injured. But Shaquanda was tried in March 2006 in the town's juvenile court, convicted of "assault on a public servant" and sentenced by Lamar County Judge Chuck Superville to prison for up to 7 years, until she turns 21.

Just three months earlier, Superville sentenced a 14-year-old white girl, convicted of arson for burning down her family's house, to probation.

"All Shaquanda did was grab somebody and she will be in jail for 5 or 6 years?" said Gary Bledsoe, an Austin attorney who is president of the state NAACP branch. "It's like they are sending a signal to black folks in Paris that you stay in your place in this community, in the shadows, intimidated."

The Tribune generally does not identify criminal suspects younger than age 17, but is doing so in this case because the girl and her family have chosen to go public with their story.

None of the officials involved in Shaquanda's case, including the local prosecutor, the judge and Paris school district administrators, would agree to speak about their handling of it, citing a court appeal under way.

But the teen's defenders assert that long before the September 2005 shoving incident, Paris school officials targeted Shaquanda for scrutiny because her mother had frequently accused school officials of racism.

Retaliation alleged

"Shaquanda started getting written up a lot after her mother became involved in a protest march in front of a school," said Sharon Reynerson, an attorney with Lone Star Legal Aid, who has represented Shaquanda during challenges to several of the disciplinary citations she received. "Some of the write-ups weren't fair to her or accurate, so we felt like we had to challenge each one to get the whole story."

Among the write-ups Shaquanda received, according to Reynerson, were citations for wearing a skirt that was an inch too short, pouring too much paint into a cup during an art class and defacing a desk that school officials later conceded bore no signs of damage.

Shaquanda's mother, Creola Cotton, does not dispute that her daughter can behave impulsively and was sometimes guilty of tardiness or speaking out of turn at school--behaviors that she said were manifestations of Shaquanda's attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, for which the teen was taking prescription medication.

Nor does Shaquanda herself deny that she pushed the hall monitor after the teacher's aide refused her permission to enter the school before the morning bell--although Shaquanda maintains that she was supposed to have been allowed to visit the school nurse to take her medication, and that the teacher's aide pushed her first.

But Cherry alleges that Shaquanda's frequent disciplinary write-ups, and the insistence of school officials at her trial that she deserved prison rather than probation for the shoving incident, fits in a larger pattern of systemic discrimination against black students in the Paris Independent School District.

In the past five years, black parents have filed at least a dozen discrimination complaints against the school district with the federal Education Department, asserting that their children, who constitute 40 percent of the district's nearly 4,000 students, were singled out for excessive discipline

continues : http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0703120170mar12,0,1435953.story

"White girl. Arson. Probation.
White male. Murder. Probation and send a card.
Black girl. Pushes someone. 7 years jail."

[R.D.]

Only in Texas... *pukes*

[gaijinsamurai]

I hope her appeal is successful and there is a way to remove the judge from the bench.

[Sir Zach of R.]

A hall monitor? Nothing more than a rent-a-cop looking for someone to bully around. This situation is BS, I hope her appeal is successful and she goes free.

[Kaapeli]

Shaquanda? Where do people come up with these names?

[Hollis]

A hall monitor? Nothing more than a rent-a-cop looking for someone to bully around. This situation is BS, I hope her appeal is successful and she goes free.


My gut feeling the article is misleading? If it is true, Shame on Paris, Texas. I wonder if there is another reporting of this incident, are the facts verifiable?

[Carib]

Kaapeli nice name lol :)

[Bia]

This is simply ONE side to a story with two or more sides....

not enough data to make logical comment.

[shocker1]

Yeah, if she is just a trouble maker I do not see the 7 years. I see nothing in the story that warrants seven years. How much is probation? Was she already on probation? It states "up to" seven years most repeat underage offenders end up at a boot camp type place here for a year at most. Then probation after that, offend on probation go back to boot camp.

I was a Freshman in high school for the first year of a brand new school. It was two schools put together after one burned. One was a majority black school(city) the other was a majority white(county) school. There was intentional trouble from black kids because the local media pick up on the gossip around town about the "race" wars at this school. None of it was true, just a few punks on both sides making trouble for attention. The NAACP even got involved and made the situation worse. Finally after a couple of years and nobody burned the place down with hate, the instigators and media went away. One of the top schools in Georgia now.

[California Joe]

Need more unbiased info to actually comment on the validity of it. Judging by the story presented here, Nathan Bedford Forrest must be the judge and probably hates saying Shaquanda a lot. p-)

There's wayyyyyyyyyyyy more to this.

[shocker1]

There is a page two to the article but the paper wants you to "register" for that. No way

Also, what were the details in the comparison cases mentioned?

[Hunterhr]

There's no way you get 7 years in jail for simply "grabbing" someone, no matter what state it is.

[PaulClift]

In England at that age some teens run riot as they know bugger all will get done.

[Dr_ColoSSus]

7 years? WTF

must be more to this`story. If not....then there is something really f**kin wrong. hell, you see on the news stories of paedophiles/rapists doin less time, and what they did is a whole lot more f**ked up then 'shoving' someone

[Calanen]

I hope her appeal is successful and there is a way to remove the judge from the bench.

Can't really remove the judge from the bench when he makes a decision people may not like, thats what the independence of the judiciary is about. Otherwise it would be justice by opinion poll instead of according to law.

While there are some bad judicial decisions, more often than not, its the press getting it wrong or not all the complete facts. In the cases I have been involved with that have received media attention, every single one has had misinformation printed in the press about what happened, what the law was, or what the parties did or said.

We don't know what psych reports were tendered -if any, or the suitability for both minors for probation. While 7 years seems too long for me, I don't know what offenders reports were prepared for pre-sentencing, what the psychs said, or even what the statutory minimum was for the sentence. Unless you know those things, its hard to make informed commentary.

How was the hall monitor affected as a victim - does the person have psychological trauma now because of what was said and done at the time...just many other things to consider. Did the defendant show remorse..any prospects for rehabilitation.... a whole lot of things we just dont know.

[BearInBunnySuit]

There is a page two to the article but the paper wants you to "register" for that. No way

Also, what were the details in the comparison cases mentioned?

Here's the second page of the story but however you see it, something is very wrong.


An attorney for the school district, Dennis Eichelbaum, said the Education Department had determined all of the complaints to be unfounded.

"The [department] has explained that the school district has not and does not discriminate, that the school district has been a leader and very progressive when it comes to race relations, and that there was no validity to the allegations made by the complainants," Eichelbaum said.




Not so clear

But the federal investigations of the school district are not so clear-cut, and they are not finished. In one 2004 finding, Education Department officials determined that black students at a Paris middle school were being written up for disciplinary infractions more than twice as often as white students--and eight times as often in one category, "class disruption."

The Education Department asked the U.S. Justice Department to try to mediate disputes between black parents and the district, but school officials pulled out of the process last December before it was concluded.

And in April 2006, the Education Department notified Paris school officials that it was opening a new, comprehensive review to determine "whether the district discriminated against African-American students on the basis of race" between 2004 and 2006. Federal officials say that investigation is still in progress.

According to one veteran Paris teacher, who asked not to be named for fear of retribution, such discrimination is widespread.

"There is a philosophy of giving white kids a break and coming down on black kids," said the teacher, who is white.

Not everyone in Paris agrees, however, that blacks are treated unfairly by the city's institutions.

"I've lived here all my life, and I don't see that," said Mary Ann Reed Fisher, one of two black members of the Paris City Council. "My kids went to Paris High School, and they never had one minute of a problem with the school system, the courts or the police."

A peculiar inmate

Meanwhile, Shaquanda, a first-time offender, remains something of an anomaly inside the Texas Youth Commission prison system, where officials say 95 percent of the 2,500 juveniles in their custody are chronic, serious offenders who already have exhausted county-level programs such as probation and local treatment or detention.

"The Texas Youth Commission is reserved for those youth who are most violent or most habitual," said commission spokesman Tim Savoy. "The whole concept of commitment until your 21st birthday should be recognized as a severe penalty, and that's why it's typically the last resort of the juvenile system in Texas."

Inside the youth prison in Brownwood where she has been incarcerated for the past 10 months--a prison currently at the center of a state scandal involving a guard who allegedly ******ly abused teenage inmates--Shaquanda, who is now 15, says she has not been doing well.

Three times she has tried to injure herself, first by scratching her face, then by cutting her arm. The last time, she said, she copied a method she saw another young inmate try, knotting a sweater around her neck and yanking it tight so she couldn't breathe. The guards noticed her sprawled inside her cell before it was too late.

She tried to harm herself, Shaquanda said, out of depression, desperation and fear of the hardened young thieves, robbers, *** offenders and parole violators all around her whom she must try to avoid each day.

"I get paranoid when I get around some of these girls," Shaquanda said. "Sometimes I feel like I just can't do this no more--that I can't survive this."

[deagle]

totally disgusting that such policies and places still exist. Just goes to show we all must still work harder together.

[shocker1]

Here's the second page of the story but however you see it, something is very wrong.
Thanks, I think we still do not have all the story. However this is getting out of hand according to this.

Black activists march in town
By Josh Edwards (http://theparisnews.com/contact.lasso?ewcd=91422e83cfbedfe126438118aae10c572952fbc076533521f7a08bb81943aac9)
The Paris News
Published March 20, 2007
Chanting “No justice! No peace! and “Go back to hell, devil!” about 100 New Black Panther Party and Millions More Movement members and some Paris residents marched on Paris Independent School District Administration building Monday afternoon.

Carrying picket signs, protesters demanded Superintendent Paul Trull resign.

Cries of “Paul Trull, come out boy!” and “Robert High, tell them why you're such a sell-out Negro” echoed through the usually quiet neighborhood around the district's administration building at Northeast 20th and Clarksville streets.

High is an assistant superintendent.

“It's still an issue and the case is still pending, so it's not appropriate for me to comment whether anyone's protesting or not,” Trull said today. The superintendent was out of town Monday.

Many protesters donned the traditional all-black garb of New Black Panther Party, while others wore T-shirts bearing messages in support of Shaquanda Cotton, a former Paris High School student currently serving an indeterminate sentence in a Texas Youth Commission Facility.

Cotton was convicted in March 2006 of assault on a public servant after she shoved a teacher's aide. Lamar County Judge Chuck Superville sentenced her to spend up to seven years in TYC.

It is The Paris News policy not to identify the names of juveniles convicted of crimes, but special permission was gained by the girl's mother.

“I know that we're not gonna quit,” local civil rights activist Brenda Cherry said. “We're not gonna stop until we get satisfaction.”

Another protest march is in the works, she said, and the date will be announced soon.

“I think it's going great, and the next one is going to be better than this one,” Cherry said.

The leader of the Dallas chapter of New Black Panther Party, who identifies himself only as Zulu, said he was willing to bring in thousands of people from around the country to help protest.

“We will not go down on our knees,” he said.

Bryan Muhammad, president of Millions More Movement Fort Worth / Tarrant County, said people of all races need to come together to fight injustice.

“We're asking for all of the citizens of Paris of good will — black, white brown, red, yellow. If you're a person of good will and you are sick and tired of the racist policies of this government, we're calling for the Millions More Movement March,” he said.

Earlier Monday, about 150 protesters filled the grounds of Lamar County Courthouse, where they demanded freedom for Cotton and other blacks they feel are unjustly imprisoned.

Cherry carried a sign labeled “Weapons of Mass Destruction” featuring pictures of Superville, County and District Attorney Gary Young, PHS Principal Gary Preston and Trull, all of whom she says have mistreated Cotton.

The girl's mother, Creola Cotton, believes Superville unfairly punished her daughter, who she says was only acting in self defense. Superville and Preston have both said resources were exhausted on Shaquanda Cotton.

“Someone needs to do an investigation to see what resources did he offer,” Creola Cotton said of Superville

“Just ask him, what one resource did he offer,” Cherry added.

Many options were not only unexhausted but unexplored, Cherry claims.

Continued here....
http://theparisnews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=5922781a09c325be

[Miles.]

Only in Texas... *pukes*

****ing moron.

[Beast]

****ing moron.

damned be that ****** girl, but nobody messes with myh homestate!11

[usa320]

who wants to bet every dime in my account she has priors?

[Miles.]

damned be that ****** girl, but nobody messes with myh homestate!11

No. I don't feel that way.

White or black, if a young lady gets done the wrong way, it's bull****.

If this situation is out of control, it will get controlled.

East Texas (remember Jasper, TX) is certainly not an example of the rest of Texas.

[Miles.]

My contempt for that "Only in Texas" comment -

Tell the wrong person in Boston that their kid will be bussed to a black school, you'll have ACME brick being pulled from your face by a nice doctor.

[martinexsquaddie]

apprantly no criminal record and 7 years in jail ?

[Macs.]

who wants to bet every dime in my account she has priors?



The youth had no prior arrest record


No prior arrest record, does that count ?

[Bohemoth]

7 years, that'll do more harm than good.
Imprisoned as a teenager, released as an adult.
Perfect way to grow a very angry maniac.

[Kippari]

WTF? Are these people really serious. Jesus, how sick people do you allow to your courtrooms? Sentencing a kid for 7 years? How is that supposed to help anybody?
Those racist f***s should be sent to Africa for a few years.

[Redmen]

So a 14 year old girl pushes a 58 year old guy/women he/she doesnt even get seriuslly hurt but the girl gets 7 years in prison?? :roll: Thats idiotic, expel her or something allong that.

[Durandal]

"White girl. Arson. Probation.
White male. Murder. Probation and send a card.
Black girl. Pushes someone. 7 years jail."

Yeah, things seem out-of-wack there, assuming we are getting all the facts, which, it seems by the bias in the article, we are not...maybe we are.

You do not lead of an article with the horrors of the past century to rationalize the argument. The "scalding the black man on the scaffold" sets the tone for the whole article.

That said, Beast, the White Male, did not murder someone nor was he accused or found guilty of murder. It was negligent homicide...which could have meant, he lost control of his vehicle, he was going 2 miles over the speed limit and thus was found NEGLIGENT.

I know in the State of Ohio, Vehicular Homicide (accidentally killing someone with your car) can get you a MAXIMUM of one year in jail and 6000 USD fine.

So, before anyone gets all crazy, and there might be reasons to do so, think before you open your yap based on this article alone.

Edit: I'd also like to see if the two cases were handled in the same county/city or by the same judge.

I know depending on where the crime happens things go down differently, that is a fact of life. I got three days in the slammer up in Cambridge, OH for something I would have gotten a slap on the wrist for in Cincinnati. I got a conservative bible thumping judge that thought I had dome something bad (not paid a speeding ticket in KY, which resulted in a temporary license suspension...it was suspended when they did a random plate check) and asked me when I wanted to do my three days. In Cincinnati, my buddy, simply had to pay the fine, get the points on his DL and leave saying he would not do it again.

That was over a decade ago, but I bet the same thing is going on, especially when you have local jails overflowing with low grade drug offenses.

[Moledet]

No prior arrest record, does that count ?
You are stupid, you should have first said that you want to bet and only then bring this quote.

[Holycrusader]

WTF? Are these people really serious. Jesus, how sick people do you allow to your courtrooms? Sentencing a kid for 7 years? How is that supposed to help anybody?
Those racist f***s should be sent to Africa for a few years.

Like to Mogadishu? That will help them?

[RallyPointCebu]

Can i call it white trash?

[shocker1]

This sounds like an open and shut miscarriage of justice. However my experience with media feed racial blow ups gives me pause here. This is an underage child case where facts from the courts/school are not allowed in the media as far as I know. Even though mom released names and info the courts/school are not allowed to do so. This gives us a one sided view with scewed details. This could all be true but I find high doubts that a town under as much racial scrutiny as this place going out of their legal way to put a 14 year old black girl in "prison" for seven years. Something big is missing from this puzzle.


Can i call it white trash?
Then you are no better than the racists you call names.

[Mr. JOSHUA]

This sounds like an open and shut miscarriage of justice. However my experience with media feed racial blow ups gives me pause here. This is an underage child case where facts from the courts/school are not allowed in the media as far as I know. Even though mom released names and info the courts/school are not allowed to do so. This gives us a one sided view with scewed details. This could all be true but I find high doubts that a town under as much racial scrutiny as this place going out of their legal way to put a 14 year old black girl in "prison" for seven years. Something big is missing from this puzzle.


Then you are no better than the racists you call names.

Both comments: QFT

I agree with Shocker, this maybe a micarriage of justice or maybe an overzelous media running with partial or cherry picked facts........

We tend to see the opposite here in the big cities, both types of hate are disgusting and not tolerable...............

Wouldn't be suprised to see the infamous "make summin outta nuthin" Quanell X take a trip up there or some other so called activist get involved, after all, there's gonna be plenty of free airtime up for grabs.....

[shocker1]

Wouldn't be suprised to see the infamous "make summin outta nuthin" Quanell X take a trip up there or some other so called activist get involved, after all, there's gonna be plenty of free airtime up for grabs.....
Too late article on previous page, when it gets to this point we may never really know the truth outside the legal system.



Black activists march in town
By Josh Edwards (http://theparisnews.com/contact.lasso?ewcd=91422e83cfbedfe126438118aae10c572952fbc076533521f7a08bb81943aac9)
The Paris News
Published March 20, 2007
Chanting “No justice! No peace! and “Go back to hell, devil!” about 100 New Black Panther Party and Millions More Movement members and some Paris residents marched on Paris Independent School District Administration building Monday afternoon.

Carrying picket signs, protesters demanded Superintendent Paul Trull resign.

Cries of “Paul Trull, come out boy!” and “Robert High, tell them why you're such a sell-out Negro” echoed through the usually quiet neighborhood around the district's administration building at Northeast 20th and Clarksville streets. .

[Mr. JOSHUA]

Too late article on previous page, when it gets to this point we may never really know the truth outside the legal system.
.


Yep.........its the equivelent of Travolta and Jackson calling in Keitel to clean up the mess they made in the car...............

[BlitzCod]

7 years!¤"¤ That is insane.. In Finland you would need to shoot a cop or something to get 7 years of prison.. In 7 years in prison, I wonder how she is going to get all the info to be a 24/7 criminal and will never ever going to be a normal people who would go to job and so on.. stupid. :roll:

[SoliDeoGloria]

"to prison for up to 7 years, until she turns 21."

They always say the max penalty the state allows...shes not going to get anywhere near that. I can pretty much gaurentee you that the other case mentioned....the white defendant probably faced several years in prison. The judges always drop it to a WAY lesser sentence. So i think yall should calm down. This article is EXTREMELY misleading.

[Firetxmi]

"to prison for up to 7 years, until she turns 21."

They always say the max penalty the state allows...shes not going to get anywhere near that. I can pretty much gaurentee you that the other case mentioned....the white defendant probably faced several years in prison. The judges always drop it to a WAY lesser sentence. So i think yall should calm down. This article is EXTREMELY misleading.


Meanwhile, Shaquanda, a first-time offender, remains something of an
anomaly inside the Texas Youth Commission prison system, where officials
say 95 percent of the 2,500 juveniles in their custody are chronic,
serious offenders who already have exhausted county-level programs such as
probation and local treatment or detention.

"The Texas Youth Commission is reserved for those youth who are most
violent or most habitual," said commission spokesman Tim Savoy. "The
whole concept of commitment until your 21st birthday should be recognized
as a severe penalty, and that's why it's typically the last resort of
the juvenile system in Texas."

Inside the youth prison in Brownwood where she has been incarcerated
for the past 10 months--a prison currently at the center of a state
scandal involving a guard who allegedly ******ly abused teenage
inmates--Shaquanda, who is now 15, says she has not been doing well.

Source: second page of article

[shocker1]

"The Texas Youth Commission is reserved for those youth who are most
violent or most habitual," said commission spokesman Tim Savoy. "The
whole concept of commitment until your 21st birthday should be recognized
as a severe penalty, Whatever all these articles say, WE are NOT getting the WHOLE STORY. My gut says something is wrong, something is not adding up to the info presented.
http://www.tyc.state.tx.us/

A juvenile offense, in Texas, is one that is committed between the ages of 10 and 17. More than 100,000 youth each year are referred to *county juvenile probation departments.
For minor violations, police may warn the child and parents.


In more severe cases, the case is forwarded to probation officials.


Those cases are resolved through counseling, referrals to other social agencies, or the district attorney may file charges.


When charges are filed, a probation officer assesses the youth's situation and reports to the judge.In most cases where a youth is adjudicated delinquent (found guilty), the judge will order some form of probation supervision in the community, or placement in a private residential treatment facility.
Just three percent of youth referred to probation departments each year are committed to the Texas Youth Commission. These youth typically are the most chronically problematic or violent youth in Texas.
There are two types of commitments to TYC.
Some more serious offenders arrive under the Determinate Sentencing (http://www.tyc.state.tx.us/about/sentenced_offenders.html) Law that allows confinement up to 40 years, first at TYC, followed by an optional court transfer to prison.


Most arrive without a determined sentence. TYC administrative policy dictates the youth's length of stay, and offenders can remain in TYC custody until they turn 21.
*Texas is unique in that local juvenile probation services are administered by juvenile boards, comprised of district court judges, the county judge and designated juvenile judges. Texas' other juvenile justice agency, the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission (http://www.tjpc.state.tx.us/), provides some state funding, training and technical assistance, and sets standards for juvenile boards.

[Firetxmi]

I grew up, and up until a few years ago, lived very close to Paris, Tx. I can tell you that race relations in the area are very strained at times.

I remember driving out to "the lake" and taking a wrong turn. I went down this very rutted dirt road only to find completely run down shacks (no running water, etc) where black people were sitting on their front "porch" in rocking chairs, playing banjo's, etc.

Lived in this area all my life and had never even heard of this little "community." It was in stark contrast to the multi-million dollar houses about 3 miles away.

[shocker1]

I grew up, and up until a few years ago, lived very close to Paris, Tx. I can tell you that race relations in the area are very strained at times.

I remember driving out to "the lake" and taking a wrong turn. I went down this very rutted dirt road only to find completely run down shacks (no running water, etc) where black people were sitting on their front "porch" in rocking chairs, playing banjo's, etc.

Lived in this area all my life and had never even heard of this little "community." It was in stark contrast to the multi-million dollar houses about 3 miles away.
Man, that sounds like Alabama somewhere below Ft Payne. We have an income and race dividing line here by neighborhoods. I was also part of a new race intergrated highschool where the rednecks from one school joined with the blacks from another.

The media and the NAACP made big hay and wrote fantastic stories of things that never happened. They would even bring up race fights from the 60's between the two former high schools at football games. I just see a town where lots of race problems exist, I have a hard time trusting this story for the sake of what I have seen the media do here.

[MkH]

who wants to bet every dime in my account she has priors?

So that makes it perfectly fine to ruin some kids life for pushing someone? Unless she has actually killed a someone, I can't see any sort of justification for the sentence.

[hauptman]

So, apart from the laws: What is the sense in sending a 14-year old girl for SHOVING a hall-monitor to prison?
Come on, look at the results: When she gets out she won't have any education nor she will have any good behaviour towards society.
So, she won't be a benefit to society except that it is very likely that she gets poor and commits more crimes because of her youth in prison ...

It's just wrong. And a jurdicial failure. It would be much better if she, if even, would have been sentenced to do community work. Then she would really learn something. The only thing she learns from her years in prison is depression, bitterness and other crimes. And of course, she is only around other, REAL criminals. I'm sure this is a good environment for a young girl to grow up.
And even if she had priors ... wouldn't it be better to try converting her into a better member of the society? But locking away only postpones the problem or even creates a new problem. And then people start bitching around about new and already full prisons.

As I said, give her some community work or something like that. Oh, and btw, I think it is called JUSTICE. I don't see any justice in this case.

[usa320]

this CASE is bunk. What the article presents is only half the story...and due to child privacy laws, we will not here the other side of the story from the state/school district.

[Hunterhr]

So, apart from the laws: What is the sense in sending a 14-year old girl for SHOVING a hall-monitor to prison?

You have no idea if that's what actually happened.

[hauptman]

You have no idea if that's what actually happened.

I don't think there exists a crime for which you can sentence a 14-year old girl to 7 years in prison. Not to mention that she is basically a child.

[Firetxmi]

You have no idea if that's what actually happened.

Couldn't that be said for 90% of news articles posted here? Yet everyone likes to claim guilt or innocence...

[Hunterhr]

Couldn't that be said for 90% of news articles posted here? Yet everyone like to claim guilt or innocence?

I didn't mean in the literal sense.

In this case the only one side can make details of the case public, of course it's going to seem like an injustice, that's what they're going for.

[shocker1]

I don't think there exists a crime for which you can sentence a 14-year old girl to 7 years in prison. Not to mention that she is basically a child.
The fact she is a child prevents us from knowing the actual details of the offense, past problems, court proceddings, evidence and school records. While this sure sounds really evil and bad, Think for a moment, a city under constant investigation for racisim, Dept of Education breathing down their necks with threats of withheld funds. Now why would such a city go beyond obvious legal pervue to put away a 14 year old black girl in the facility? Drawing every Black Panther hate monger from miles around, NAACP and media outlets to their little town after what has happened there before. The place she is in is not a prison in the sense most of you here are thinking.

That said sure there could a justice gone bad story here. However from my life here in Southern America, I have found these type racial fight stories are long on dramatic flare and short on facts.

[hauptman]

The fact she is a child prevents us from knowing the actual details of the offense, past problems, court proceddings, evidence and school records. While this sure sounds really evil and bad, Think for a moment, a city under constant investigation for racisim, Dept of Education breathing down their necks with threats of withheld funds. Now why would such a city go beyond obvious legal pervue to put away a 14 year old black girl in the facility? Drawing every Black Panther hate monger from miles around, NAACP and media outlets to their little town after what has happened there before. The place she is in is not a prison in the sense most of you here are thinking.

That said sure there could a justice gone bad story here. However from my life here in Southern America, I have found these type racial fight stories are long on dramatic flare and short on facts.

Well, it is at least fact that nobody has been hurt(!) nor does anybody had any damage ... so, even without the full details this sentence looks pretty weird.
And even if, as I said, if we forget the laws, it's a basic problem and it's all about the principle: Putting her 7 years to prison doesn't make her a better person at all. If will only make her worse ;)

So the best thing is making an appeal.

[shocker1]

Well, it is at least fact that nobody has been hurt(!) nor does anybody had any damage ... so, even without the full details this sentence looks pretty weird.
And even if, as I said, if we forget the laws, it's a basic problem and it's all about the principle: Putting her 7 years to prison doesn't make her a better person at all. If will only make her worse ;)

So the best thing is making an appeal.
I agree if that is exactly what is going on. It stated up to seven years, which means in my neck of the wood mostly probation, Second she is not going to a Prison but a juvi hall which isn't much better. There is something missing that ties this to the punishment. This is Paris Texas though and the history does not sit well.

[Firetxmi]

There is something missing that ties this to the punishment. This is Paris Texas though and the history does not sit well.

Very true!

[Scrim]

As presented to us, this is absolutely insane. Shes already been in juvi for 10 months, Im suprised Jesse and co wernt rampaging about this ages ago. There must be more to it, if not, it is indeed an outrage.

[Lt. KoNAne]

Wow...not even Georgias like that.

[loganinkosovo]

continues : http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0703120170mar12,0,1435953.story

"White girl. Arson. Probation.
White male. Murder. Probation and send a card.
Black girl. Pushes someone. 7 years jail."

If it's true I'm sure the FBI is investigating and the federal judical board of review is all over it

[Calanen]

I don't think there exists a crime for which you can sentence a 14-year old girl to 7 years in prison. Not to mention that she is basically a child.

Not knowing what the full story is - I'd say that if the case came before me and I was the judge, this case seems more likely to fall within the ambit of a bond or probation. So you can check up on the kid and if she breaches her probation, she's inside. It could be the 14 year old girl said all the wrong things to person who did the pre-sentencing report, ie, I'm not sorry, I'd do it again, when I get out, I'll find that mofo and really hit him this time....

So please, keep an open mind about this case. The media is only giving you a very thin slice of what is happening.

[Bohemoth]

Some people doubt the article, but before somebody can prove that the article is wrong or inaccurate we must base the discussion on the given information. I think that's just fair.

Another point is, the racial aspect doesn't even matter. It's about the general idea of putting a child or teenager into jail. It can only be the last option and something very terrible must have been committed to take away 7 years of valuable life from an under-age and still developing person.

[usa320]

Some people doubt the article, but before somebody can prove that the article is wrong or inaccurate we must base the discussion on the given information. I think that's just fair.

Another point is, the racial aspect doesn't even matter. It's about the general idea of putting a child or teenager into jail. It can only be the last option and something very terrible must have been committed to take away 7 years of valuable life from an under-age and still developing person.

Jail and Juvi arent exactly the same thing...

[Bohemoth]

Jail and Juvi arent exactly the same thing...
Well, I don't know too much about either of them, because I haven't seen one from inside yet. rofl

[MagnaDane]

There's no way you get 7 years in jail for simply "grabbing" someone, no matter what state it is.

He-he-he.
Do you remember that story, when brave USA cops handcuffed and jailed kid only for opening his x-mas present a little too early? ;)

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/8347/copskc1.jpg

[Nano]

Some people doubt the article, but before somebody can prove that the article is wrong or inaccurate we must base the discussion on the given information. I think that's just fair.

Another point is, the racial aspect doesn't even matter. It's about the general idea of putting a child or teenager into jail. It can only be the last option and something very terrible must have been committed to take away 7 years of valuable life from an under-age and still developing person.
Don't want to do the time don't do the crime. I could care less if you are 7 years old and murder not self-defense and in some cases I would not even let that slide or a 50 year old and did the same. I say bring back the firing squad and bill the family for the cost of the ammo. The justice system lacks a lot of justice nowadays. The average mostly good citizen always gets the hard hand of the law and is most to avoid problems with it while other elements of society use it to their advantage. The gangbangers where I used to live and probably even the one's in my current area are far more afraid of an honest citizen with a weapon than any police agency out there.

[Bohemoth]

He-he-he.
Do you remember that story, when brave USA cops handcuffed and jailed kid only for opening his x-mas present a little too early? ;)

[Image]
Wtf, is that true? Are you sure they only cuffed him? Don't some States have the death penalty?p-)

[MagnaDane]

Wtf, is that true? Are you sure they only cuffed him? Don't some States have the death penalty?p-)

It's not a joke - that story was discussed here.
Kid opened his x-present - xbox - before x-mas and begin to play.
Mad mother call cops. Cops came, cuffed him and bring him to jail.

[Nano]

It's not a joke - that story was discussed here.
Kid opened his x-present - xbox - before x-mas and begin to play.
Mad mother call cops. Cops came, cuffed him and bring him to jail.
Some hard ass cops they are wonder if they would come over to a known dealers house coming in shooting and taking names. I think they would avoid such houses or hit up the gangs.

[MagnaDane]

Some hard ass cops they are wonder if they would come over to a known dealers house coming in shooting and taking names. I think they would avoid such houses or hit up the gangs.
They not hard-ass, they just brainless.

Some careless worker in robot factory forgot to install CPU into those police androids.

But indeed, it would took a hell lot of bravery for two adult armed men to apprehend a boy. He could bite them!

[Hunterhr]

He-he-he.
Do you remember that story, when brave USA cops handcuffed and jailed kid only for opening his x-mas present a little too early? ;)


Getting cuffed and actually getting sentenced to seven years are two completely different things.


Well, I don't know too much about either of them, because I haven't seen one from inside yet.

This may come as a shock to you, but you don't necessarily have to experience something first hand to know how it works. Reading is usually a good start. Let us know how that works out for you.

[MagnaDane]

Getting cuffed and actually getting sentenced to seven years are two completely different things.
I know that, thanx-u-very-mutch!
But getting cuffed and jailed for opening you present... isn't it surrealistic?
Just like getting 7y in jail for pushing somebody?

[Nano]

I know that, thanx-u-very-mutch!
But getting cuffed and jailed for opening you present... isn't it surrealistic?
Just like getting 7y in jail for pushing somebody?
I really think there is a lot more behind that push than has been reported. The report could just simply be so slanted to the cry me a river the poor 7 year old girl thug protege is getting 7 side that it does not give any more information on the matter on purpose.

[Bohemoth]

[...]

This may come as a shock to you, but you don't necessarily have to experience something first hand to know how it works. Reading is usually a good start. Let us know how that works out for you.
Reading? Err ... what did you write?rofl

[martinexsquaddie]

same court white boy kills someone gets probation
white girl burns house down gets probation
black girl SHOVES SOMEONE not seriously injured no weapons used 7 years in jail WTF

[akd]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/30/Henry-Smith-2-1-1893-Paris-TX-2.jpg


Paris was the site of the lynching (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynching) of Henry Smith in 1893, the first blatantly public, actively promoted lynching of a southern black by a large crowd of southern whites. 10,000 people gathered around to cheer while he has tortured and then burned to death.

As a Texan, I would not hesitate to say that Paris is a backward place.

[Miles.]

As a Texan, I would not hesitate to say that Paris is a backward place.

Ugh....


East Texas truly sucks.

[Kippari]

Nice, you have your own Kosovo there.:)

[Firetxmi]

He-he-he.
Do you remember that story, when brave USA cops handcuffed and jailed kid only for opening his x-mas present a little too early? ;)

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/8347/copskc1.jpg

Oh, what is it Nano, don't do the crime if you don't want to do the time.

Or wait, maybe that doesn't apply in some situations?

[DaGreatRV]

First of all, shoving someone is not worth 7 years(not by a long shot). :fork:

Second, Juvenile Law! It exists for a reason. :bash:

(7 years in prison will make this kid a real criminal :cantbeli:)

[little icebear]

Surely it´s always usefull to know a story from several perspectives...

But hearing people say "Oh, careful... we don´t get the full story...".
I mean, hey, what could that full story be like, in order to justify such a sentence? Is this girl a member of a suicide-bomber-group? :roll:
I was curious so I surfed the web for about one hour... didn´t get much of another story.
And then - I already said it - it doesn´t really matter, even if that kid was a notorious troublemaker... it is just not right to send a kid of 14years into jail. Not for 7 months, not for 7 years.

[praetorian6]

In some states, you can get less time for killing a hall monitor. If the story is accurate, there is obviously more to it.

Some 14 year olds deserve jail time.

[little icebear]

If the story is accurate, there is obviously more to it.


What makes you so sure about that? Do you trust the system? Talk to some lawyers... they can tell you stories that are going to make you believe in fairy-tales.
As far as I can see, I consider the US-legal system to be the most doubtful in the Western World - perhaps with the exception of Japan.

[IraGlacialis]

In some states, you can get less time for killing a hall monitor.
Well at my middle school if you say that you are going puch somebody in the face, and somebody reports it, you could get 10 days out-off-school suspension and the clause of it being a malicious threat (got suspended twice for that in 6th grade).
If you actually punched someone in the face you would get 3 days suspension.

Not sure if it is that screwed up anymore.

[praetorian6]

What makes you so sure about that? Do you trust the system? Talk to some lawyers... they can tell you stories that are going to make you believe in fairy-tales.
As far as I can see, I consider the US-legal system to be the most doubtful in the Western World - perhaps with the exception of Japan.

Um thanks, I think I might have a handle of the criminal justice system in America at this point in my life.

If you have to ask why I am so sure about it, well, then...

[praetorian6]

Well at my middle school if you say that you are going puch somebody in the face, and somebody reports it, you could get 10 days out-off-school suspension and the clause of it being a malicious threat (got suspended twice for that in 6th grade).
If you actually punched someone in the face you would get 3 days suspension.

Not sure if it is that screwed up anymore.

That's funny.

I don't know what the school systems are like now, my kid doesn't go to a public school anymore, and he doesn't have to deal with this sort of idiocy. There really isn't any fighting there.

When I was in school if you said you were going to hit someone, and they reported it...so what, nothing happened. If you actually hit someone, you got a few days of out-of-school suspension.

[little icebear]

If you actually hit someone, you got a few days of out-of-school suspension.

That´s the way the cookie crumbles... usually.

[schwarz]

Ha used to be in highschool if you were going to beat someones ass you did it in the locker room or you met them after school very rarely did anyone fight in the halls because chances were they would get expelled.
Ofcourse I do remember a few occasions the teacher trying to break it up getting popped.