Honor Student Cleared of Truancy Charge

A judge in Montgomery County has come to his senses, and has dropped the contempt citation he slapped on a high school honors student he put in jail for truancy.  The 17 year old student is also refusing to accept financial donations that are pouring in from around the world.

Justice of the Peace Lanny Moriarty has dropped the truancy charge he filed against 17 year old Diane Tran. The Montgomery County District Attorney says he will get the charge expunged so she will have no criminal record that could cause her problems later in life.

This all started when Moriarty cited the Willis High School junior for repeated truancy and threw her in jail for 24 hours last week.

Tran says yes she does occasionally miss early classes, but it's because she's exhausted from working two jobs to support herself and her siblings, all while going to high school and making honor roll grades. She says she has to do this because their parents divorced and left them on their own.

This story has gone viral on the Internet and is sparking outrage  -- and support -- around the world.

An Internet fund drive based in Louisiana reports it has raised more than $100,000 from 49 states and 18 countries to help support her and pay her college expenses.

But Tran has refused to accept the money.  She says "There's some other kid out there struggling more ... than me."

via Charges dropped against honor student jailed for truancy - Houston Chronicle.

This Justice of the Peace has some serious explaining to do.  In the end, he was alone against the world in thinking this young woman should be in jail. If this is an example of the kind of "judgement" he brings to his courtroom, we can only hope that the people who voted him into office will vote him out the first chance they get.  The people of Montgomery County deserve better.