Judge sends teenager to juvenile detention for not doing online homework

propublica.org

22 points·shadykiller··6 comments

> Judge Mary Ellen Brennan, the presiding judge of the Oakland County Family Court Division, declined through a court administrator to comment on Grace’s case. In her ruling, she found Grace “guilty on failure to submit to any schoolwork and getting up for school” and called Grace a “threat to (the) community,” citing the assault and theft charges that led to her probation.

> “She hasn’t fulfilled the expectation with regard to school performance,” Brennan said as she sentenced Grace. “I told her she was on thin ice and I told her that I was going to hold her to the letter, to the order, of the probation.”

That "threat to the community" part is unbelievable. At no point in the story did this kid ever pose a threat -- potentially to her mom, however, biting a finger isn't a jail-worthy action to take against a kid. We don't throw parents in prison when they spank their kids.

"citing the assault and theft charges that led to her probation"

That sounds like threat to community to me. That being said, I'm just taking that at face value. Wouldn't be shocked if the underlying assault/theft isn't as bad as it sounds, but since its all sealed hard to say.

sounds perfectly reasonable to me

I hate the journalist trend that conflates the act of breaking parole with that of the cause of going to jail. It is misleading and disingenuous. They should do better.

Incredible. Another example of the school to prison pipeline at work jailing black kids. This one is especially ridiculous since it's obvious that the child needs therapy, not a jail cell.

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