Saturday June 9, 2012, 8:35 pm

Last week, the country was riveted by the story of young Diane Tran, a high school junior age 17, who was tossed in jail for a night because she was missing too much school.

The reason her case attracted so much attention? Tran missed those days of school--or arrived late--due to exhaustion. She worked two jobs to help support her siblings. Her parents had split and moved out of town. She became, in essence, a poster-girl for both the recession and for the criminalization of youth. Even those local newscasters expected to be dispassionate were moved to say their "hearts went out" to this girl.

One of Tran's employers is a wedding planning business, which she assists and whose owners house her with her parents out of town. The other is a full-time job at a dry cleaning store. Her third job, then, is going to school, where she is enrolled in several AP and honors classes, but missed 18 days. After a previous warning, a judge decided that a night in jail would teach her a lesson. He didn't see why people were kicking up such a fuss. "A little stay in the jail for one night is not a death sentence," the judge told the same local news channel.

But then thousands of people around the world read the headline variations on "honors student goes to jail" and began expressing their support--with their voices and their wallets, signing a petition and contributing to a fund for Tran.

At last, the judge in the case agreed to dismiss the contempt charges he had leveled at Tran. News sources reported that with paperwork, she can have her record expunged.

But none of these reprieves happened until Tran had already spent the night in jail.

Tran is an "honors student" with an obviously compelling story. But the question lingers: is jail the answer for any kid under 18, even those who don't have her excuse for offenses like truancy, or worse? Our incarceration system, after all, designed for adults, has deep, perhaps unfixable defects. Why send those we deem too young for a college campus into a cell?

The issue of youth incarceration and an overly punitive attitude toward teen offenses in general isn't confined to cases like Tran's. It affects everyone from young teens of color on the streets of New York targeted by stop and frisk to the Michigan teenager, a high school senior, arrested for sleeping with his underage girlfriend, a freshman.

The behavior that gets teens sent to jail ranges from merely illegal on paper to truly morally wrong, deserving of punishment, perhaps even dangerous. But exactly what kind of punishments we do issue to young people -- and what kind of help we offer them--speaks volumes about our society.
***


AlterNet / By Sarah Seltzer

Full article on one page at Visit Site

Saturday June 9, 2012, 8:49 pm
So what good did it do to make this young woman spend a night in jail? Wouldn't it have made more sense to locate her parents and make them take responsibility for caring for their children or put THEM in jail? Did the judge bother to find out whether or not the younger siblings were cared for during this young woman's overnight absence? It appears to me that Diane Tran is more responsible than the judge who jailed her.

Saturday June 9, 2012, 11:01 pm
> Got to love those private jails and prisons!
easy to see why: $$$$$$$$
rule-of-thumb: "costs" for lodging a person in jail are about the same as for a several-star-hotel-room
.. and there isn' many other growth-sectors

Sunday June 10, 2012, 12:26 pm
Thanks so much for sharing and circulating this very important story, Kit! Gladly noted and circulated.

Sunday June 10, 2012, 12:41 pm
:s you shouldn't be allowed to stick a person in jail for missing school..that's just sick

Sunday June 10, 2012, 12:56 pm
How about they spend more time jailing real hard core criminals that are out murdering innocent people or robbing banks, stores, people etc. How about putting hard core drug abusers in jail or drug dealers instead of giving them lighter sentences for informing on cartels. Sure, lets put a teen i9n jail because she skipped school. What is our country coming to. OH YEAH, ISLAM where murders can happen and nothing is done about it. Men kill their wives just because.

Sunday June 10, 2012, 3:20 pm
Private jails are immoral and should be illegal. Some of these Judges that hand out these absurd sentences need to be removed from the bench. If executions were turned over to the private sector we would have murder on a mass scale and all for GREED! This pathetic system is NOT in the Public interest. Shame on the political hacks and lobbyists for coming up with this stupid idea of private jails. It's time people in these states with private jails protested to their representatives and maybe even start lawsuits to stop this moronic and draconian system. I often think "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THE HUMAN RACE?"

Sunday June 10, 2012, 4:04 pm
Too bad people aren't considered people anymore but rather a # - she did this so she got that - no look at why and trying to help her.

Sunday June 10, 2012, 4:14 pm
I've a real dislike for jailing children for minor offenses. Usually minor infractions're due more to an understandable lack of maturity that they'll grow out of. And no matter what the crime I've never believed children belong in an adult prison (until they've grown up, of course).

This young lady sounds like a really good kid. She's responsible and hardworking and makes good grades. She needs help from the state not punishment (at 17 she's still a child and we've an obligation to care for the young.)

Sunday June 10, 2012, 7:25 pm
This is was Fascism looks like.

Thanks for the update on the girl, I was one who signed that petition. Sorry she still had to spend the night in jail, but glad a fund was set up for her. This is the one we know of, all across this Nation people are being put in jail for petty crime or no crime at all as in this young girls case. Yet we have the Criminals on Wall St. still hving themselves a grand ole' time, but why should they care, our "fearless" leaders will just bail them out if they get in trouble and they won't even have to spend a night in jail for their "bail out".

"WE HANG THE PETTY THIEVES AND APPOINT THE GREAT ONES TO PUBLIC OFFICE."
AESOP 620 - 560BC (how little has changed)

Sunday June 10, 2012, 10:19 pm
Once again the system has abused what people agreed to.
People were sick and scared of violent teens with no laws to stop them.
Now they are going TOO far in the WRONG direction. NON violent kids should NOT be locked up.
Carried this fight in Indiana some years ago when they wanted to make it illegal for kids to drop out of school.
The LT. governor came to town, a big meeting up at the high school. For those of us who wished to talk directly to him,,, I waited over an hour and some. I question the common sense of arresting kids, giving them a permanent arrest record for dropping out of school. How will that help them? On the average,, most realize their mistake and go back to school later. I can't believe nobody else had thought of that. It was taken off the table but now I see once again it is back on the table:(

Sunday June 10, 2012, 10:22 pm
You cannot currently send a star to Kit because you have done so within the last week.

Monday June 11, 2012, 9:01 am
The US incarcerates a higher percentage of it's people than any other nation on earth. It's a national shame.

Monday June 11, 2012, 12:23 pm
That is so ridiculous!!! I agree the judge needs to take a good look at himself in the mirror if he can stand too and ask what did he really accomplish here??? Nothing not a damn thing. Did he even bother to check to see if there was anyone there to watch her siblings??? No he just misused his powers and put her in jail. He's an idiot and what he did was just downright stupid. I wonder how good would he have felt if something would have happened to one of those kids. Thank God nothing did. But he didn't know that and apparently didn't care. Our injustice system needs to be revamped. It's totally screwed up and the law enforcers need some better training and make sure they have some damn commonsense.

Monday June 11, 2012, 12:38 pm

Nope TomCat it's a national resource - dollars flow into the private jails/prisons...wonder how much is actually paid in kick backs?

Monday June 11, 2012, 2:23 pm
This is not right to put teenagers in prison. The prison system is already over crowded. And in the case of Diane Tran, this was ridiculous. She was trying to take care of her siblings, going to school and working. Do you know another teenager that would do this? She should have NEVER been put in prison. The judge should have found her parents and put them in prison. They should have been there taking care of there children, not Diane trying to be the parent. Diane Tran is a lot more intelligent than the judge OR her parents. The laws need to change, this has to stop!!!!

Monday June 11, 2012, 2:59 pm
thanks

Monday June 11, 2012, 3:15 pm
thanks

Monday June 11, 2012, 3:29 pm
I wonder what the nation breakdown is of juveniles put into jails.Is the whole country guilty of this stupidity?
What is the most common crime a person commits under the age of 21?

Monday June 11, 2012, 3:45 pm


@ Allen -- What Types of Crime Do Juveniles Commit?


Alcohol and Drugs
Young adults and teenagers' crimes often involve drugs and alcohol. The drinking age in the United States is 21, but teenagers can get alcohol through friends; drunk driving is an issue with young adults. Drugs are available to most teenagers through friends as well.


Sexual Offenses
Juveniles who grow up in low-income families sometimes turn to prostitution as a way to make money. Kids and teenagers who experience abuse or neglect may run away, and prostitution is one way to get paid.


Status Offenses
Juveniles most commonly commit minor crimes, and often are not ticketed for them. Some cities have curfews for those under 18 in order to create a safe environment. Teenagers often ignore these rules, and can be ticketed for it. Until you are 16, in the United States, you are required by law to attend school (unless being home schooled). Truancy is the act of skipping school, and many middle school and high school students do this throughout their educations.


Violent Crimes
Some juveniles commit violent crimes, and some scientists believe this is often caused by childhood abuse or neglect. Regardless of the reason, many teenagers in cities join gangs.

http://www.ehow.com/info_8451377_types-crime-do-juveniles-commit.html

Monday June 11, 2012, 5:59 pm
Thanks Kit--good post, better comments.

Tuesday June 12, 2012, 12:11 am
she gets jail, and animal abusers get probation...go figure.

Tuesday June 12, 2012, 6:18 am
This is insane. Others who maim or kill animals get a tap on the wrist. The "justice" system is really a let down.

Tuesday June 12, 2012, 2:04 pm
I don't understand why she should go to jail when there are other teens who should be there! Yes, including the animal abusers who just get some stupid community service. Maybe the private jails just want the people who didn't do anything wrong and won't cause them any trouble.

Tuesday June 12, 2012, 2:08 pm
This is very absurd that the ones that abuse and do CRIMINAL acts get away with it (because it's another species that they do it to)
but the ones that hardly do anything get that thrown at them. It's so illogical I don't consider myself part of the people society - it's more of an insult. Very degrading

Wednesday June 13, 2012, 2:13 pm
This is sick. Jail animal abusers, not teens like her. Jail is for criminals, and can't compared with teenagers who didn't commit a crime!!

Wednesday June 13, 2012, 5:08 pm
BTW...I followed the story, which was of course absurd. Here is this poor girl working her heart out, NOT LIVING OFF THE SYSTEM. Good news, her charges were dismissed.

Thursday June 14, 2012, 11:17 am
Noted, thanks.