More on the Shaquanda Cotton issue
As I suggested in my last post on this issue, there is too much important information that is being left out of this case. Again, a commenter on the blog State of the Qusan brought up yet again another missing piece that will not be included in most chain e-mails and other blogs. I’ll just highlight the article below.
(theparisnews.com) “Shaquanda Cotton was NOT sentenced to seven years in prison.
The 14-year-old, who was convicted of assaulting a public servant for shoving a 58-year-old teacher’s aide, was sentenced to a state juvenile correction facility “for an indeterminate period not to exceed her 21st birthday.” Whether she spends seven years in the dormitory-style facility she was assigned to depends on one person  Shaquanda.
Ever since the Chicago Tribune’s Howard Whit did a hatchet job on Lamar County justice, folks across the nation have believed that County Judge Chuck Superville put Shaquanda behind bars for seven years. The fact is that’s just plain and simple NOT true.
Let me repeat that for our recent out-of-town guests. The judge did NOT sentence Shaquanda to seven years and she is NOT in a prison.
By definition, an indeterminate sentence is one structured so that the person’s conduct determines the date of release. The truth is that Shaquanda could be out by now. She determines how soon she comes home by her actions.
[...]
In the year after Shaquanda was convicted, absolutely nothing happened except Shaquanda’s mother and a handful of wanna-be civil rights activists convinced a Dallas and Houston-based tabloid that Shaquanda had been wronged. The poorly written report was laced with inaccurate information and failed to garner much attention  especially with local African-Americans who are familiar with Shaquanda’s case. Credible civil rights advocates, including most black ministers, did not become involved.
Then came Whitt and the Chicago Tribune with a much more polished version of the wanna-be civil rights activists’ story. As spring break arrived, Blogs Gone Wild played on Web sites across the nation as wanna-be writers ate up Whitt’s tale of a vindictive, racist school district and judicial system.” (if you want to read the rest, you will need to register)
So while local Black folks initially did not make this into a big deal, others (who in my estimation are being elitist here) “knew better” and are raising hell nationally about it.
The Duke case all over again!
Listen to the some of the people who live in that area:
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.
Comment by Lester Spence | March 29, 2007
*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.
*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.
Comment by Duane | March 29, 2007
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.
Comment by Lester Spence | March 29, 2007
We all just need to pray about this situation.
Comment by unknown | March 29, 2007
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?)
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.
Comment by Duane | March 29, 2007
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.
Comment by DarkStar | March 29, 2007
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.
Comment by Lester Spence | March 30, 2007
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.
Comment by Duane | March 30, 2007
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:
Comment by DarkStar | March 30, 2007
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.
Comment by Duane | March 30, 2007
Check your moderation queue for something I posted.
Comment by DarkStar | April 2, 2007
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.
Comment by Duane | April 3, 2007
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.
Comment by Temple3 | April 3, 2007
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.
Comment by Lester Spence | April 5, 2007
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”.
Comment by Duane | April 5, 2007
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”.
Comment by John | April 9, 2007
John,
It looks like you are right on this one. I screwed up here and saw “defecated” as “defaced” in the article. Thank you!
Comment by Duane | April 9, 2007
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?
Comment by Patrice | April 10, 2007