Eve,
The defense could not have possibly chosen the judge to set punishment rather than the jury. Juvenile law REQUIRES the judge do it. Probation was never offered. The D.A. lied. And since your post, Shaquanda Cotton has been released and it was found that she was being kept imprisoned because she had an extra pair of socks and being required to admit guilt when you have an appeal pending violates your rights. Also, her blog was not actually HER blog. She was in prison when that blog was made. They are not allowed to Blog in prison. I hope your appleseeds land far from the tree.

Sincerely A Strong Black Women,
Zate’zaah

Shaquanda Cotton is going to be freed.

It is just so hard to see all of the sides when we are naturally allowing emotion to play a role.
From everything I have read inre to the Shaquanda Cotton case, Her defense asked the judge to determine her sentence (as opposed to letting the jury make a recommendation).The Mom also rejected a plea that would have allowed her daughter out on Probation, Her mother, Creola Cotton, stated in court that she nor her daughter would adhere to any of the conditions of probation that Judge Superville offered.
Judge Superville’s offer was two years of informal probation, which means she would certain conditions to meet, but would be in the custody of her mother, and after successful completion of the requirements of her probation, the charge would not become a part of her permanent record.
At that point his choices were to place her on probation (after her mother had already stated that she would not follow the requirements), or send her to TYC for an indeterminate sentence not to exceed her 21st birthday.
That sentence is the precise sentence that roughly 90% of the youthful offenders in the state receive when they are sent to TYC.
She would have already been released if she has successfully completed her rehabilitation program, but TYC officials have stated that Ms. Cotton has not even gotten to stage one of the process because she will not admit that what she did was wrong (even though she stated in court and on her blog that she pushed the teacher’s aide).

It is true that this town is known for strict justice. More than one death sentence has been rendered from Lamar County…. but not by judge Superville as far as I can tell by researching.

Like I said before, I wish no child would ever have to be incarcerated. Unfortunately, there are very few perfect environments at “home”, and hers is certainly FAR from perfect. My prayer is that this child is given a chance to grow up. My prayer is that her apple seed lands far from the tree……..

Peace

The underlying issue is with the justice system in this town–not child rearing.

Just by doing web searches today, I followed these links:
keywords: shaquanda cotton survived by obituary
produced her recently deceased father Mickey David Thomas Sr.’s obituary at

http://mccurtaincountyview.com/obituaries.html

I then used her Father’s name for a search and found this article on her brother, Mickey David Thomas Broken Bow: link

I followed that up with a visit to AR’s death row roster and found that no execution date has been set for her brother yet.

Like I said, the whole picture has yet to be painted.

Why won’t her Mom release her school records?

Why wouldn’t her Mom let her plead out in the first place?

Maybe her being in the TYC’s hands for a while isn’t such a horrible thing. I would not wish incarceration on any child, but just maybe the TYC is better for her than being in the grips of her own family.

Peace

By Mary Madewell The Paris News

Published March 25, 2007

County Judge Chuck Superville says he fears for the community’s safety and is calling for the national media and other organizations to investigate the facts before drawing conclusions about the Shaquanda Cotton case.

The judge said a March 12 story in The Chicago Tribune unfairly painted the community as racist and a recent protest as well as the threat of future protests by organized groups with national media coverage could “spin this thing out of control.�

Superville said he has refrained from commenting until now because of his position as the judge in the Cotton case, but that he believes he has a higher duty as county judge to maintain order in the community.

“I call on the media and others involved to go to the public record to get the facts of the case before they rush to judgment,� Superville said Saturday.

Superville said after a three-day jury trial, which found that Cotton committed an act of juvenile delinquency � namely assault causing bodily injury against a public servant � he determined the best place for her would be Texas Youth Commission.

“If Shaquanda had been white, the outcome would have been the same,� Superville said. “My decision was based on facts and law and I am confident this was the correct decision based on the facts I was presented.�

The March 2006 case is on appeal with the Texarkana Court of Appeals. The court conducted a 10-hour hearing in August 2006 to consider a request that Cotton be released on bond.

The judge said Cotton could have been released at that time but would not speculate why the appellate court did not grant the bond. The judge said he presented the facts of the case and that attorneys for both the prosecution and for Cotton presented arguments.

Superville said he gave the 14-year old an indeterminate sentence up to seven years � her 21st birthday.

“Once I set the indeterminate sentence, Shaquanda holds the key to her jail cell,� Superville said. “It is up to the child and TYC.�

In explaining the juvenile process, Superville said after a jury makes it’s finding, the judge determines the disposition.

“I am bound by law to ask lawyers whether or not reasonable effort has been made to prevent or eliminate the need for the child to be removed from her home,� Superville said.

“I also must determine whether or not there is enough family support to assist the child in successfully completing terms and conditions of probation,� Superville said.

“Thirdly, I must determine whether or not it is in the child’s best interest to be removed from the home,� the judge said.

“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.�

So you know a couple of Texans and they aren’t inhuman. Wow, who would’ve thunk it? Who would’ve ever thought that of all the millions upon millions of people who live in Texas (myself included), there just might be a few that aren’t the root of all evil. Here, let me show you how bad your statement is by changing just a few words: “I know a few black guys and they are not inhuman. In fact they are caring intelligent people who have wisdom beyond their years”. Lovely, huh?

To address the point of the post -> this appears to be a serious miscarriage of justice and I hope it gets resolved soon. I’m not sure if the problem is due to racism or not, but regardless, sending a child to prison for shoving someone (considering it is her first offense) seems completely inappropriate.

Equality even in passing judgement… a white girl gets probation for burning down a house and this girl gets 7 years? For shoving for what might have been a jerk…

I can’t wait for her to be freed, then turn around and sue the state, the country, the city of Paris Texas, and the school system for abuse of power.

This looks real bad for Texans, since I know a few Texans personally and they are NOT inhuman. In fact, they are caring, intellegent, people who have wisdom beyond their years. But you wouldn’t know it from how the lack of equality exists in the state of Texas.

I don’t understand how one could be positive in ‘general’ about a state that has such a horrible situation presently going on in such a serious place as its juvinile court system where: “allegations surfaced that some prison officials were coercing imprisoned youths for sex…”

If I had kids in that school system I’d be a bit more alarmed than that. But thanks for your post, it was good to hear an honest opinion from somebody there.