An over-indulgent mother who has taught her that nothing is her fault and anything that goes against her is the result of discrimination.

A teenager has been jailed for more than a year for shoving a teacher's aide at her high school, a case that has sparked anger and heightened racial tensions in rural East Texas.

Shaquandra Cotton, who is black, claims the teacher's aide pushed her first and would not let her enter school before the morning bell in 2005. A jury convicted the 15-year-old girl in March 2006 on a felony count of shoving a public servant, who was not seriously injured.

The girl is in the Ron Jackson Correctional Complex in Brownwood, about 300 miles from her home in Paris. The facility is part of an embattled juvenile system that is the subject of state and federal investigations into allegations that staff members physically and sexually abused inmates.

Under the sentence handed down by Lamar County Judge Chuck Superville, she will remain at the facility until she meets state rehabilitation standards or reaches her 21st birthday.

But her family and civil rights activists say they want her home now. They are condemning the sentence as unusually harsh and say it shows a justice system that punishes young offenders differently, depending on their race.

Personally, I don’t care what momma and the “civil rights activists” want. Momma rejected the misdemeanor plea bargain that would have kept her child out of jail and on probation, but found that too harsh and went to trial. She lost.

And besides – I think any kid who lays hands on a teacher or school staff member ought to be in a juvenile facility until age 21 – or charged with an adult and facing hard time in a state prison.

Posted by: Greg at 08:43 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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