As a straight-A honors student at Willis High School (11th grade), Diane also worked two jobs -- part-time at a dry cleaner, and part-time for a Wedding planner -- in order to support her two siblings, after her parents' separated and her mother moved away from the family.
The state law in Texas allows no more than 10 absences within a six-month period of time. Diane is considered an adult under Texas law, and was put in jail after a warrant went out for her arrest for truancy, which is considered a misdemeanor.
After the jailing of the honors student went viral, the Judge told many news sources that he put Diane in jail to set an example for the rest of the students in Texas. According to Texas Compulsory Education Laws, the minimum time in jail for truants is 24 hours -- which is what she received.
Apparently, while Diane was in jail she was surrounded by any and all types of criminals -- from drug addicts, to prostitutes, to suspected murderers. The girl has described her time in jail as "the worst experience of her life."
Needless to say, this is not what one would typically call a "fair" punishment for missing school. Most kids would think something more like no television for a week, or having to do extra chores on the weekend.
The real question here is: Should Texas's truancy law be decided on a case-by-case basis?
If the answer is "Yes" then a student who is already making straight As, taking college-level courses in high school, and holds two jobs to support her family should most likely not have been put in jail for this.
If the answer is "No" then there should be no certain GPA requirement to not be jailed, or any other type of exception to the rule for that matter. This essentially means every person would be looked at as absolutely the same, no matter what their circumstances.
I do believe that state law is important to follow, and I don't think that very many exceptions should be made by the federal government, overturning the laws. After all -- this freedom is part of what gives us as Americans the ability to prevent too much government control.
However, the one issue I have with the Judge's statement -- that he was trying to create an example with Diane -- is if he had been deciding these issues on a case-by-case basis, then even if we was attempting to make an example, he could have chosen a student who was doing worse in school, and who was in better circumstances than this girl (for example, did not have two jobs and two siblings to support).
That being said, I do not know every single detail of what happened, so I cannot fully take one side or another -- but the public outrage for what happened to Diane is already quite immense. Many believe that the Judge should have just given the girl a break.
Finally, Happy Belated Memorial Day!
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