The Black Informant | African American Commentary, News and Community Building

Rather than write my own post about this response, I’ll just point you here. To wit a few things are clear here:

*Ms. Cotton had no record (unless you count her minor school infractions).

*The aide she shoved was not injured.

*The judge had exhibited leniency in previous cases.

*Ms. Cotton was sentenced to juvenile prison.

*The prison Ms. Cotton was sent to has a record of mistreating inmates.

The one thing that I got wrong was how long she was sentenced.

There are a whole host of reasons why individuals don’t choose to be involved in a given case. And yes, in some cases people choose not to mobilize around a given case because of “random and trifling behavior”. But just as it is both possible that OJ Simpson DID do it, AND was railroaded by the police, it is possible that here Ms. Cotton was guilty and was railroaded in Paris, Texas.

*Ms. Cotton had no record (unless you count her minor school infractions).

True. What is also true is that Shaquanda’s mom would not work with school officials or the courts to help aleveate this persistent problem with her daughter. In other words, she gave the courts no other choice.

*The aide she shoved was not injured.

I’m not 100% on that one. I am getting mixed reports that she was taken to the hospital. I just shot off an e-mail to the local paper down there. In any event, according to the schools’ own Code of Conduct, ANY assault on a teacher is automatically treated as a felony. (Link)

http://www.parisisd.net/InternetRoot/District/dmp%202005-06.pdf

*The judge had exhibited leniency in previous cases.

I agree. The problem here is that it was school officials (of which I think 4 of them were black) recommended a stiffer sentence. Shaquanda must have been a piece of work for them to recommend such a sentence. In most cases I have personally seen, you can at least find one parent who is willing to work to resolve the issue. It does not sound like the case here.

“Both lawyers presented evidence on those points,” Superville explained. “The county attorney put on a substantial amount of evidence that Shaquanda had been a persistent behavior problem at school and that the mother failed to cooperate at every turn.”

“I asked if there was anything that could be done that had not already been done and the repeated answer was ‘no,’” Superville said.

Superville said reports from Lamar County Juvenile Probation Department also weighed on his decision. Before a juvenile trial which could result in probation, the probation department conducts a fact-finding survey.

“The juvenile officer said the mother refused to cooperate and said he had no reason to believe the mother would cooperate if Shaquanda received probation,” Superville said.

“That theme was repeated witness after witness—that the mother made it impossible to help Shaquanda,” Superville said. “She blamed everyone except the child for misbehavior.”

*Ms. Cotton was sentenced to juvenile prison.

*The prison Ms. Cotton was sent to has a record of mistreating inmates.

True. To me THAT is by far the bigger issue here. On one of the links I have provided in one of these posts, you will see that even the ACLU has not jumped on the Shaquanda case as they are doing with the overall corruption in that system. For them to not have filed any legal actions on this particular case only confirms that we are not getting the whole story here.

True. What is also true is that Shaquanda’s mom would not work with school officials or the courts to help aleveate this persistent problem with her daughter. In other words, she gave the courts no other choice.

How does a child become a problem child without a substantial paper trail of actually being a problem? What persistent problem are Paris officials referring to here? From what I understand she has a form of ADD, but I’d suspect that if this was a significant issue it would turn up in records somehow, as well as in court, as opposed to just in court.

(Thanks for the link to the felony. I’m willing to bet that most schools have a rider like this, if for no other reason than for the protection of the teachers. The question to me though is enforcement. If you imprisoned every student that rode up on a teacher from my school it isn’t like you’d fill up the jail because it didn’t happen that often, but it’d still be a pretty significant issue. I’m betting that this law is applied selectively.)

What I just said over at Mike’s Cobb was that I am willing to acknowledge that Ms. Cotton was not without flaw. But the problem, particularly in organizing around issues of racism, is that we’re attaching a very high standard of performative behavior to what are in essence really straightforward issues of citizenship. Discrimination is still discrimination even if the discriminated against acts like an ass. OJ Simpson can both be guilty AND railroaded by the police at the same time. The ACLU would’ve been waiting a long time to tackle the prison system if they were waiting for the perfect candidate–the 21st Century version of Rosa Parks.

We all just need to pray about this situation.

How does a child become a problem child without a substantial paper trail of actually being a problem?

According to this article, there is some substancial documentation. Her mom has hindered the school from releasing it to the public (what parent wouldn’t?)

“Dennis Eichelbaum, an attorney for the Paris school district, said the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has vindicated the district by finding no evidence of discrimination in three cases the agency has closed. Five other investigations remain open.

Eichelbaum said Creola Cotton is preventing the district from fairly defending itself by refusing to let the school district make her daughter’s entire records public.

“Mrs. Cotton has been wrongfully attacking the character of the district,” Eichelbaum said. “She’s being disingenuous with regard to her daughter being an innocent child.”

Discrimination is still discrimination even if the discriminated against acts like an ass.

No doubt! But I am having a very difficult time seeing the discrimination here simply on the fact that Black school officials testified against her. Plus, according to this judge he wanted to know if all other resources to help this girl had been exhausted first. You can also add the fact that a separate inquiry was conducted and concluded that her mom would not assist in the probation process. Again, I think about 90-95% of folks out there are missing the bigger issue–the insane corruption in that whole juvenile system. That to me is the real crime.

We all just need to pray about this situation.

Yes. Pray with understanding.

If I were the parent, I wouldn’t want that information disclosed to the public either, for a good reason: if they child has some form of HADD, and it is legitimately diagnosed, the write ups, standing alone without that information, can look much worse than it is.

If the girl was on medication, and P6 is the first I’ve heard of it, then I am left to wonder exactly HOW the mother is not cooperating.

In the 1st grade, the teacher strongly suggested that we put my daughter on Ritalin because she talked so much. In fact the teacher said we should do it before “her pattern of behavior became a part of her permanent record.” We pulled her from the school and put her into another private school.

When the school principal asked us why we pulled our child, we told her of the conversation with the teacher. The principal then told us

the teacher said we were not doing what was best for our daughter and that we were in denial of our daughter’s situation. I asked, again, how putting a 1st grade girl on Ritalin made sense when girls are KNOWN to be more talkative than boys and how marking her as “trouble” because she talks too much is beneficial to anyone.

No doubt! But I am having a very difficult time seeing the discrimination here simply on the fact that Black school officials testified against her. Plus, according to this judge he wanted to know if all other resources to help this girl had been exhausted first. You can also add the fact that a separate inquiry was conducted and concluded that her mom would not assist in the probation process. Again, I think about 90-95% of folks out there are missing the bigger issue–the insane corruption in that whole juvenile system. That to me is the real crime.

But it doesn’t have to be either or. As far as I’m concerned this is an excellent example of an individual case bringing up much more systemic issues. Deal with the individual case, sure…but use the case to change the system under consideration.

One of the hardest things I’m getting black and white students to get a handle on is that racism can occur with the participation of black people.

Oh. And Ed is on to something as far as the medication issue. I think labeling Ms. Cotton as problematic has more to do with her medical record than her actual record if that makes any sense.

Oh. And Ed is on to something as far as the medication issue. I think labeling Ms. Cotton as problematic has more to do with her medical record than her actual record if that makes any sense.

Two of the things this girl did prior to all of this happening was:

A. She deficated on a school desk

B. She came to school with a short dress going against a standing school policy.

The problem with ADHD is that like the “bi-polar” condition, it has become the catch-all for all sorts of bad behavior. I’ve come across quite a few kids who had the same condition she has and NEVER have I heard of them doing these typed of things. Plus, if her consistant bad behaviour was due to her “medical condition” why then did her mother keep her in that school if she knew full well that she was causing all of that trouble? Why did the mother refuse to work with the judge so that her “sick daughter” could get a lighter punishment. Methinks that Shaquanda was the arrow her mother used to attack the system.

Where did you get the info on defecating?

On the short dress, that’s against rules but that doesn’t go towards saying the girl is out of control, although she may be.

Plus, if her consistant bad behaviour was due to her “medical condition” why then did her mother keep her in that school if she knew full well that she was causing all of that trouble?

How do you know the school didn’t want to put her into a “special education” program for which the mother did not agree? If the mother is part of a group suing the school district, maybe that is part of the reason?

Here is a comment placed on Cobb’s blog:

I was appointed to represent Shaquanda on appeal after she was convicted…I did not represent her at trial. There are a few comments that need to be made about the DA’s statement.

First, Shaquanda was never offered probation from the DA’s office. You don’t have to take my word for that, it’s in the trial transcript. I filed a motion for new trial as part of the appeal. I called the trial lawyer and asked him if a probation offer had been made. He answered “no.” This was never disputed by the DA’s office. Later, after trial , I specifically asked if a probation offer had been made. The DA said “no.” That ended my enquiry into the plea bargain part of the case, and I filed my appeal with the Texas sixth Court of Appeals. My grounds , among others, are ineffective assistance of counsel and insufficient evidence to remove her from her mother’s home to place her in TYC.

One of the things that is disturbing about the release from the DA’s office is the apparent lack of knowledge about juvenile law. A juvenile cannot, I repeat, Cannot, be sentenced by a jury. Only the judge can set the punishment.

There are many other “misstatements” about this case. I try only to set the record straight.

Do a search for it yourself. I think I found it on the Paris News website (sorry, I am out of it tonight).

How do you know the school didn’t want to put her into a “special education” program for which the mother did not agree? If the mother is part of a group suing the school district, maybe that is part of the reason?

Think about what you are saying here for a moment. ANY caring parent who know that their child is being a consistant disturbance in school would take matters into their own hands instead of leaving it to the school to give her what she should be given at home. Plus, with a school that is comprised of a high percentage of black students, why would Black teachers testify against her?

Ed, you may not agree with my politics, but com’on man. The mom is cahoots with the New Black Panther party. You know what they are about and that their M.O. is to show out anytime something comes remotely close to racism. That alone tells me that there is more to the story that we are not getting (from her side at least).

At this point I am begining to feel like a broken record, but I believe that the Juvenile system in that area is what should be the center of discussion here.

As far as Waite’s comments go, those are very serious charges that he is making considering the fact that both the judge and D.A.’s office are saying something completely different. Don’t forget the fact that it is his J-O-B to contradict anything the D.A. is saying. It doesn’t make him right or wrong–it is just part of the game. Just like the Duke case, BOTH attorneys will ‘stir it up’ to their advantage. At this point I am just gonna continue to read up on it…later on. For now, I’m gonna enjoy my Friday night.

Plus, I also find it very interesting that Waite would choose to use somebody else’ blog to make these claims instead of making it formal by issuing a press release like the D.A.’s office.

Check your moderation queue for something I posted.

Dangit! I could not find it.

In the future, just do what I do and highlight what you type here and copy it. I’ve been trying to get to the bottom of this for some time to no avail.

Perhaps, Dr. Spence, you should get your students to understand that racism seldom happens without the cooperation of black folk. I know you know it – but they’ve gotta get it, too.

I wouldn’t say “seldom” because there are far too many spaces black people aren’t in.

Duane, I’ve only seen information that indicated that she defaced school property, and that the school officials later admitted that the property was not in fact damaged at all.

Duane, I’ve only seen information that indicated that she defaced school property, and that the school officials later admitted that the property was not in fact damaged at all.

When this story dips to the point where we are trying to figure out if she did or did not defecate, I know that we just missed the last intellectual “truck stop” on a long road of endless debate.

Crap (or dookie) rarely damages anything. It can be cleaned up easily unlike urine–which can damage. Notice that the article does not mention whether or not if defecation was present. ANYWAY, this is a semantics issue that has nothing to do with the bigger issue in Paris–the corruption in the juvenile system in that area.

Beyond that, there is nothing more to talk about with this case unless fellow Black bloggers want use the same “underground network” that freely distributed the “taking vs. looting” pics of Katrina and this latest case in Paris to raise scholarship funds for people like Shaquanda. Because I assure you, by December of this year she will be an afterthought in our “sphere”.

Duane,

The only source for the “defecate” claim is this here blog. Looks like you misread “defaced” as “defecated” and then topped yourself by misspelling it as “deficated”.

John,

It looks like you are right on this one. I screwed up here and saw “defecated” as “defaced” in the article. Thank you!

Any one remember Tawana Brawley? Come on everyone was up in arms about that poor child who was attacked by white police officers. This situation reminds me of that case. Things just dont ad up. Something is not right. We are not getting the whole story. They young lady and her mother were on the Steve Harvey Show this morning. They were not able to discuss the “case” but the community activist was. A Ms. Cherry was her name. I was disturbed by what I heard. According to Ms. Cherry, prior to Shaquanda assulting the hall monitor, she had herself been assaulted by a teacher and the hall monitor, she was pushed and shoved when whe attemtped to go into the building, at one point she fell and hit her head, causing a contusion. At that point Shaquanda defended herself against the teacher and the monitor. No one mentions this, did it happen? It seems to me that the adults involved in this case are being too secretive. That makes me wonder why this child was actually sent to juvie. I think the sentence was harsh, she obviously has problems, Im wondering if being placed in a facility like that was in her best interest. Especially when a child the same age as she was burned down her families home and was given probation. This child also had previous crimminal infractions prior to setting the fire…Shaquanda was a problem child in school, is that grounds for a trip to juvie? The only difference between these two children is thier race. That is what concerns me. If Shaquanda was white, would she have gone to juvie?