A Michigan judge who is being criticized for detaining a 15-year-old girl after she was unable to do her school work has denied the teenager’s early release.
PONTIAC, Mich. – A Michigan judge who is being criticized for detaining a 15-year-old girl after she was unable to do her schoolwork denied the teen’s early departure on Monday and said she was placed in a youth center because she was a threat to her mother.
Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Mary Ellen Brennan said during a hearing at Pontiac that her “role is to make decisions that are in the teen’s best interest,” according to The Detroit News. The judge said the police had been called three times for clashes between the teenager and her mother.
ProPublica reported last week that the girl has been in Oakland County Children’s Village since mid-May for violating probation in a case involving assault and robbery charges. Brennan cited a “failure to submit to any schoolwork and get up for school.”
Brennan had said the girl was a threat to the community due to the assault charge involving her mother in November, according to court documents. The girl also allegedly stole a cell phone from a classmate at Birmingham Groves High School in Beverly Hills, northwest of Detroit.
The girl is called “Grace” to protect her identity. She was released on parole in April and, among other requirements, had to complete her homework. Grace, who has ADHD and receives special education services, struggled with the transition to online learning and was left behind.
When Brennan sentenced the girl to detention on May 14, she told him that she was sending her to Children’s Village for treatment and services.
“She was not detained because she did not turn in her homework,” Brennan said Monday. “She was detained because she was a threat to her mother.”
“My role is to make decisions that are in the best interest of this young woman, period,” said Brennan. “I swore that I would not be swayed by public outcry or fear of criticism.”
The Birmingham Public Schools said last week that they had no role in the case, but that no student should be punished for work missed online during the coronavirus pandemic.
The district switched to virtual instruction after a state-mandated school closure in March.
ProPublica’s story was also published by Detroit Free Press and Bridge, another news organization.
Grace is black, and news of her case sparked protests about how black children are treated in the criminal justice system.
“People need to learn to work with our children,” said Monique Campbell, who is African American and participated in a protest Monday outside the court building. “There must be equal treatment for all children, and we must realize that there is not.”
Vivian Anderson, founder of EveryBlackGirl Inc., also attended the protest and said black children are being criminalized for “behavior accepted in other communities as a way of life: this is their aging process.”
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