Judge Lanny Moriarty breaks the asshole scale

[Mr Bean]

Here's the short version
Diane Tran is one of those wonder kids you here about, she works two jobs to support her siblings, is an honor student to boot and basiclly has no social life as you know taking Honors level classes, working two jobs and helping her family as she currently is renting from one of her two employers.

She's been missing class because there is only so many hours in the day, but despite that being one of those super driven gifted kids she still gets her homework in and still passes all her tests.

So naturally the best thing to do with this girl who's succeeded at everything in her life despite crushing burdens along comes Judge Lanny Moriarty and says that's nice, but your still missing school days (She's not there when they take attendance because that's sleep time) so here's what I'm going to do
Send you to jail and fine you 100$ because you know what? This is Texas and in Texas we like making examples of people.

Honor student placed in jail for tardiness and truancy at school

HOUSTON—A judge threw a 17-year-old 11th grade honor student from Willis High School in jail after she missed school again.

Judge Lanny Moriarty said last month Diane Tran was in his Justice of the Peace court for truancy and he warned her then to stop missing school. But she recently missed classes again so Wednesday he issued a summons and had her arrested in open court when she appeared.

Tran said she works a full-time job, a part-time job and takes advanced placement and dual credit college level courses. She said she is often too exhausted to wake up in time for school. Sometimes she misses the entire day, she said. Sometimes she arrives after attendance has been taken.

The judge ordered Tran to spend 24 hours in jail and pay a $100 fine. Judge Moriarty admitted that he wants to make an example of Tran.

“If you let one (truant student) run loose, what are you gonna’ do with the rest of ‘em? Let them go too?” Judge Moriarty asked.

Tran said she is working so hard because she is helping to support an older brother who attends Texas A&M University and a baby sister who lives with relatives in Houston. Tran said her parents divorced “out of the blue” and both moved away, leaving her in Willis. Her mother lives in Georgia, she said.

“I always thought our family was happy,” the teen said tearfully.

Tran lives with the family of one of her employers. They own a wedding venue. She works at the Vineyard of Waverly Manor on weekends and at a dry cleaners full time.

“She goes from job to job, from school she stays up ‘til 7 o’clock in the morning,” said her friend, co-worker and classmate Devin Hill.

This sounds like one of those stories that's perfect to go national, the link has a little interview with the kid and unless she has a amazing career in acting I have to say I accept the news story's version of events at face value.

[Block]

If her parents BOTH moved away then they need to be in jail.

[Mr Bean]

If her parents BOTH moved away then they need to be in jail.

She was emancipated meaning she's an adult. But yeah the parents are not in the picture at all.

[Block]

If her parents BOTH moved away then they need to be in jail.

She was emancipated meaning she's an adult. But yeah the parents are not in the picture at all.

Hmm, it doesn't say that anywhere, but ok. It seems odd that she's supporting her older brother in college. He should be able to get financial aid if the parents disowned all the kids.

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

She was emancipated meaning she's an adult. But yeah the parents are not in the picture at all.

What? If she's emancipated, and over 16 to boot, how can she be truant?

[Broomstick]

Aside from the judge, the legality, and truancy laws, I think there is something wrong with a situation where a 17 year old is working 1.5 jobs, attending school full time, and being expected to take care of an older sibling as well. I mean, it's amazing and fantastic the kid is doing as well as she is, but that is really too much. Who is taking care of her?

[TimothyC]

She was emancipated meaning she's an adult. But yeah the parents are not in the picture at all.

What? If she's emancipated, and over 16 to boot, how can she be truant?

Because she's enrolled in classes including both AP and College level, both of which (it is my understanding) are more expensive than regular high school classes?

That said, the Judge Lanny Moriarty is an ass and hopefully will be removed at the next election, and yes, there is something wrong with the system.

[Darth Fanboy]

Related to Texas Truancy Laws: Parents charged with misdeameanor and given fine over family vacation.

Also here is the state truancy law for Texas..

Some of the things in that law are fucking goofy. Seriously read this shit.

Section 25.086. EXEMPTIONS.
(a) A child is exempt from the requirements of compulsory school attendance if the child:
(1) attends a private or parochial school that includes in its course a study of
good citizenship;

Really?

The way i'm reading that law, unless there is a another law somewhere that frees emancipated kids from attendance requirements, then even emancipation isn't enough to be lifted from the legal requirement to attend. Which is utter bullshit in this case given the circumstances, but hey a bunch of old fuckers in Austin can't be wrong ever eh? I hope this judge not only gets tossed out on his ass but I hope he finds himself needing compassion at some point like this kid deserves so he can see what it's fucking like.

[Panzersharkcat]

Because she's enrolled in classes including both AP and College level, both of which (it is my understanding) are more expensive than regular high school classes?

That said, the Judge Lanny Moriarty is an ass and hopefully will be removed at the next election, and yes, there is something wrong with the system.

I don't know about Texas but from what I remember, AP classes are merely more difficult, if you're talking about the classes themselves. It's only slightly more if you count the AP exam, which is $87 per test, and the supplies needed for stuff like AP Calculus. If it's a community college, the ones in California are something like $46 per unit. That said, given her situation, that's likely at the limits of what she can bear.
As for the the judge, when I first saw this, my first thought was, "Yes, punish the ones who are busting their asses off in school. That can't possibly go wrong."

[Alyeska]

Related to Texas Truancy Laws: Parents charged with misdeameanor and given fine over family vacation.

Story is behind a pay wall.

[Darth Fanboy]

Really? Not for me, and I sure as hell am not paying.

The Pate family of Frisco, (from left) Jewels, mother Leila, Charm, son Nico and father Frank Pate, returned from an extended Christmas vacation in Italy to a court summons regarding the children's absence from school for the trip.

By JESSICA MEYERS

A hesitant gathering of spit-shined students and fidgety parents stand outside Judge John Payton’s courtroom every spring. They prepare to beg, confess and apologize for enough missed school days to violate state law and compromise graduation.

These Collin County youths face another year of algebra equations or a summer of community service. Parents risk a much more punitive fate in the sometimes sticky world of truancy law: branding as criminals.

Leila and Frank Pate returned from an extended Christmas vacation in Italy to a court summons. They’d prepared for the travails of travel with young children. But the Frisco couple didn’t envision it leading to a misdemeanor charge and a label of criminal negligence.

“We’re criminals because we took a vacation to see family,” said Leila Pate, who wanted her second-grader and kindergartner to visit ailing relatives in the farthest stretches of southern Italy.

She informed the school district about the trip and packed a bag of class work. The kids practiced their Italian. They received approval for two of the 10 planned absences.

The summons came before the jet lag ended.

The district said the children’s attendance reports showed an unacceptable number of days missed. State law requires schools to prosecute when students skip or arrive late 10 or more days within a six-month period or three or more days within a month.

“We’re looking at [the order] and going, ‘This is just absolutely bonkers,’” said Frank Pate, who runs several businesses with his wife. “This is about money for them.”

So they waited with about 20 other parents in February for a Frisco Municipal Court hearing. And, filled with indignation, the parents decided on a jury trial.

They lost. Each received a $267 fine per child and a Class C misdemeanor stamp. The conviction reads “parent contributing to non-attendance.”

The pair filed their appeal Monday. They plan to take their children out of the district’s schools.

“I’m sure there are people that will look at us and say we’re a bunch of rich snots,” said Frank Pate, a dog-eared Texas law book propped on the coffee table. “But I believe there should be some latitude. Who came up with the idea that travel and education don’t go together? Where does the school have the right to step in?”

District’s defense

District officials say they recognize the delicate balance between school authority and parental responsibility. But the law exists to solve a truancy problem, not instigate one.

“Our philosophy has been to look at it as a way to help students, not to get students,” said Doug Zambiasi, Frisco ISD’s assistant superintendent for administrative services. “We hope our [truancy officers] are like the Maytag repairman that has nothing to do.”

Frisco ISD details the requirement in its online handbook, as required by law. Local policy asks administrators to phone parents and send letters when a student misses five, eight and then 10 days. The district has filed about 250 truancy cases with local courts this year. Most involve secondary students.

Districts have extra incentive to act diligently because they receive funding based on student attendance. But Zambiasi denied finances as a motivator, pointing to nominal $80 court fees the county and school district split.

“If parents want to play the game,” he said, “they can play within 10 days.”

Some have found another way to do so. A loophole allows guardians to withdraw children for a trip abroad and re-enroll them upon return. Schools must allow students to attend class if they live within their boundaries.

Judge’s view

Payton has made truancy cases a focus since he took the bench two decades ago. His hard-line approach has left him beloved as well as feared.

He said neither courts nor districts can prevent the occurrence, although he questions whether such actions really prioritize education.

“This is not some whimsical state law,” he said, on a break between a teenage addict and a kid with several jobs. “It becomes a slippery slope. If a person gets to decide 12 days here, 12 days there, who are we at this point?”

Payton banks on another May routine beyond the line of youths snaking out of his truancy court. It’s the graduation invitations he receives.

[Eulogy]

Well, well. Looks like Doc Moriarty has made a big PR blunder, and next election he just might be made an example out of.

Think a protest can be organized?

[CJvR]

Well, well. Looks like Doc Moriarty has made a big PR blunder, and next election he just might be made an example out of.

Perhaps he can be persuaded to go on vacation here:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... erFall.jpg

[Isolder74]

Perhaps he could be convinced to go on vacation here instead. It would be a bit more fitting location.

This judge really needs to gain a massive sense of perspective. Putting the kid in jail won't help. All it will do is make matters worse. What the girl needs is an actual legal guardian. She is doing great but she shouldn't have to have 2 jobs at her age.

[Scrib]

I keep hearing about Texas' truancy laws and them dragging the police and judges into their schools but this seems ridiculous.


This judge really needs to gain a massive sense of perspective. Putting the kid in jail won't help. All it will do is make matters worse. What the girl needs is an actual legal guardian. She is doing great but she shouldn't have to have 2 jobs at her age.

This this this this. I mean, what is to gain here? A hundred dollar fine? Why the fuck would you send kids to jail for not going to school in the first place? Seriously?

[Bright]

According to this article, Morarity wasn't aware of Tran's circumstances and "might work to have the arrest removed from her record." (Quote from the article, not the judge.)

I suppose it's entirely possible that he didn't know, but this still across as a half-hearted attempt at dodging public backlash. And making a ruling without having all the facts doesn't reflect very well on the court anyway.

Also, there's a charity set up for Tran that has a fair bit of money gathered up already.

http://helpdianetran.com/

Don't ask me if it's the real deal or some sort of fraud.

[ArmorPierce]

Unfortunately school rules and laws are made to appeal to the lowest common denominator. This extends even to college. This results in situations like this where a student should have some degree of freedom to study when and where as slong as they get the work done but don't because they want to force the students who would otherwise not do any work.

[Grumman]

Unfortunately school rules and laws are made to appeal to the lowest common denominator.

Only the shit ones. There's a reason people speak of zero tolerance rules with such contempt.

[Zaune]

According to this article, Morarity wasn't aware of Tran's circumstances and "might work to have the arrest removed from her record." (Quote from the article, not the judge.)

She was placed on trial. That presumably means she was expected to appear in court, and thus be cross-examined under oath.

Therefore, and forgive me in advance for the intemperate tone I'm about to take...

How in the name of blue FUCK can he sit there and claim he was not in possession of all the facts?!

I'm sorry, but someone is not doing their job here. This isn't even about the rights and wrongs of Texas state law, it's a matter of basic due process.

[Sea Skimmer]

US Schools loose state and federal funding from low attendance, truancy laws aren't just about making kids go to school for their own good.

I'm going to bet Mr. Morarity had a brief which had the facts in it, and read the first couple paragraphs before deciding this was an open and shut case of child did not attend school for X number of days.

[Skywalker_T-65]

US Schools loose state and federal funding from low attendance, truancy laws aren't just about making kids go to school for their own good.

I'm going to bet Mr. Morarity had a brief which had the facts in it, and read the first couple paragraphs before deciding this was an open and shut case of child did not attend school for X number of days.

That is probably true actually. Or at least it is the only thing that makes sense other than Mr. Morarity lieing to cover his own behind, which is also a possiblity. Either way though, Tran should not have been punished for this. I have seen people at my high school (only my senior year oddly enough...) who were regularly skipping and doing all sorts of things that deserve being punished, but they weren't. Maybe Missouri's laws are more lenient than in Texas? I don't know for sure.

[PeZook]

The simple solution is, of course, to help her financially so that she doesn't have to work two jobs and thus can attend school. Society should support people with enough drive and skill to actually pull off what she's been doing.

But that's socialism.

[Sea Skimmer]

That is probably true actually. Or at least it is the only thing that makes sense other than Mr. Morarity lieing to cover his own behind, which is also a possiblity. Either way though, Tran should not have been punished for this. I have seen people at my high school (only my senior year oddly enough...) who were regularly skipping and doing all sorts of things that deserve being punished, but they weren't. Maybe Missouri's laws are more lenient than in Texas? I don't know for sure.

I'd be surprised if the law was different in any serious manner. I skipped school like crazy too and never got in any trouble; though in my senior year the school did announce that from then on vacations during the school year were limited to missing two days of school and only then if you did various work while gone. I would tend to guess that the difference was this girl was attending a school that had such a large scale attendance problem that it was being threatened with lost funding, and this prompted them to ask the local courts for some kind of crackdown. I don't think the judicial system has any means of knowing about truancy unless the schools tell them about specific students; though I could be wrong now that all that stuff is computerized.

[Haruko]

Mandatory attendance was supposed to help protect children from being burdened by dead end and exhaustive labor — and, by implication, not being broken mentally and physically in childhood — so that they may focus on education and become productive adults.

What we have here is a judge failing to acknowledge a student caring greatly to become a productive adult and come away with a proper education, and seeing only a breech of the letter of the law. The student was burdened not only by labor but the responsibility of her absent parents despite mandatory attendance and making a serious effort (honor student, mind you) to fulfill her obligations as a student, yet the judge thought the answer was to burden her further.

Letter of the law. Spirit of the law. As Frisco school district staffer Doug Zambiasi pointed out (Meyers, "Texas Truancy Law Offers Guidance For Some, Loopholes For Others"), "Our philosophy has been to look at it [anti-truancy laws] as a way to help students, not to get students." The student did not need help knowing where her priorities should be, and working hard and smart. She did not need to be reminded that she should be going to school and getting an education. She needed the off-campus burdens softened so that she could focus on school. I am pretty sure that a day in prison and a $100 fine was not given with that spirit in mind. Indeed, the judge admitted that he just wanted to get her.

Way to go. Reminding me again that being tough on crime for many enforcers means mauling justice.