When did it become a CRIME for not completing school assignments?
Several news sources report a black 15-year-old with special-needs (ADHD) was incarcerated for not doing her homework. She’s being identified as Grace and has been behind bars since May 14, NY Post reports.
A judge revoked her probation for her “failure to submit to any schoolwork and getting up for school” for remote learning due to the pandemic. Grace’s mother has been advocating for her daughter and called the courts racist for their decision. She said,
“Every day I go to bed thinking, and wake up thinking, ‘How is this a better situation for her?’”
The executive director of the National Juvenile Justice Network, Ricky Watson Jr., told a news publication he doesn’t understand why anyone would send a child to jail during the pandemic and the human rights movement.
“Unless there is an urgent need, I don’t understand why you would be sending a kid to any facility right now and taking them away from their families with all that we are dealing with right now.”
Grace lives in a predominantly white village of Beverly Hills. She was reportedly placed on probation after two incidents from last year. In one situation, the police were called to Grace’s home after she bit her mom’s finger and pulled her hair after an argument about going to a friend’s house. The other time, Grace was caught on tape stealing a classmate’s phone and it was later returned.
In the two instances that happened last year, there’s no question that Grace didn’t abide by the law. It’s not exactly clear why she is behind bars over not completing her homework since that’s not a crime. On top of her not committing a crime, she is also disabled and struggles with learning.
Judge Mary Ellen Brennan called Grace a “threat to [the] community.”
Diddy, Meek Mill and people online reacted to the news:
https://twitter.com/diddy/status/1283092439297818626?s=21
If y’all don’t let this lil girl out of prison!!! 🤬🤬🤬 https://t.co/fqAAwsDG6C
— MeekMill (@MeekMill) July 14, 2020
https://twitter.com/loretta5901/status/1283164988597850112?s=21