The controversial shoveling incident allegedly snowballed when Shaquanda Cotton nor Creola Cotton would admit guilt for their part in the incident. The incident involved an injury to Shaquanda Cotton and a failure to inform the parent in a timely fashion about the incident. A recommendation was made to impose a severe indeterminate sentence on Shaquanda Cotton as punishment for failure of mother and daughter to comply. The sentence pulled a 14 year out of school and placed her into prison for seven (7) years, an indeterminate sentence. Shaquanda Cotton's action were upgraded to criminal charges making her eligible for imprisonment.
The indeterminate sentence was a message to the mother and the child, that punishment would be handed down based on their being defiant rather than Shaquanda Cotton's guilt. In other words, a longer sentence for mother and daughter lack of compliance with what authorities requested. It did not matter if Shaquanda Cotton was innocence, Shaquanda Cotton and her mother needed to plead guilty to appease those making the request.
Charles Dudley Warner writes
An indeterminate sentence is a commitment to prison without any
limit. It is exactly such a commitment as the court makes to an
asylum of a man who is proved to be insane, and it is paralleled by
the practice of sending a sick man to the hospital until he is
cured.
Not only that the sanction handed down branded Shaquanda Cotton as a criminal for life. It tells others that Shaquanda Cotton is marked unfit to be treated in an humane manner. It tells others that Shaquanda Cotton is not to be viewed as a mere child but viewed as a threat to their quality of life.
Shaquanda Cotton does not need our sympathy, she needs her freedom now. Free Shaquanda Cotton now. Shaquanda Cotton needs this sanction removed from her and for us to write the Governor of Texas and to demand her immediate release. Write and tell the Governor of Texas, Rick Perry Shaquanda Cotton has served 365+ day to many for this minor incident. Just click on his name.
Don't let Shaquanda Cotton be another Katrina. Let us not be just outraged and do nothing. Act. Write. Do something. Free Shaquanda Cotton.
It came be done. I had written my letter. Go here and let Shaquanda Cotton know you have intervened in her behalf.
Read more about Shaquanda Cotton
7 years in jail for pushing a hall monitor--if you're black
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What began as a bad day for 14-year-old Paris (Texas) High School freshman Shaquanda Cotton ended up as an apartheid nightmare. It seems that Shaquanda shoved a hall monitor in a dispute over entering the building before the school day had officially begun. She was trying to get to the nurse's office to get her daily dose of medicine for her "attention deficit" disorder. Was this African-American youngster suspended? Kept after school? Sent to a counselor for some anger-management intervention? No.
Shaquanda, who had no previous arrest record, was tried in March 2006 in the town's juvenile court, convicted of "assault on a public servant," and sentenced by Lamar County Judge Chuck Superville to prison for up to 7 years until she turns 21. Just three months earlier, Superville sentenced a 14-year-old white girl, convicted of arson for burning down her family's house, to probation.
For more see Chicago Tribune story, "To some in Paris, sinister past is back."
Contact all news, radio, and others you know. This might not be your child, but might be a child you know in the future if this is not dealt with this true injustice.
Below is just one of the letter's I sent on the behalf of Shaquanda Cotton:
Dear Sir;
This letter is in response to a story published in the March 12th 2007 issue of the Chicago Tribune regarding the continued confinement of Shaquanda Cotton of Paris Texas. I am simply infuriated at the severity of the sentence imposed by Judge Chuck Superville. The incident initially considered a misdemeanor, was elevated to a felony, and Judge Superville imposed an indeterminate sentence with one year certain, up to age 21. Yet despite the Lamar County’s District Attorney and his staff protestations to the contrary, one can only conclude that race and the efforts of the Shaquanda’s parent to receive equal treatment for Black children from the school Board and the administration of Paris High School. This action implies an attempt to squash legitimate dissent, a right guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States. Surely this is not something you would approve, nor any other true American.
Additionally, once Shaquanda was remanded to the custody of the Texas Youth Commission, that initial callousness was further compounded by treating Ms Cotton, diagnosed since age 7 with attention hyperactivity deficit disorder (ADHD), with the drug seratraline (Zoloft). This drug, based on a public warning issued by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA), indicated an increased risk of suicidal thoughts or behavior with the use of this antidepressant medication, especially if the recipient was under 18 years old. Shaquanda has since been recorded as having three attempted suicides in the course of the 11 months she has been incarcerated. Shaquanda Cotton, I may add has never been arrested or charged with any other crime previously, at most, a few minor infractions of school rules. Does wearing her skirt one inch too short or pouring too much paint in a cup, deserve such an overwhelming draconian response by the justice system in Paris Texas? I think you will agree with me that it does not.
This situation is unconscionable, Mr. Governor, and I am sure that you, as the leader of the great state of Texas, wants to see Shaquanda Cotton returned home, to recover her childhood, to grow up and become a fine upstanding citizen of whom we can all be proud. Send her home, now, and let her begin, realize her human possibilities.
Thank you.
Thanks for sharing. Great Letter.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading a month old email sent to me by a friend, I was so sure it was not true. It couldn't be, not in America in 2007 could a judge get away with this and a poor child have to sit in custody for over 1 yr. So I goggled her today and sure enough. Thank God she has been released. My question is why did it take the entire world to get in an up roar before this child got released. I am in the Air Force and I sometimes wonder what I'm fighting for. The freedom to judge and hate people for being the "wrong" color? The freedom for people in powerful positions to misuse there authority? It's 2007 and Shaquanda Cotton's mother should not be contemplating moving her daughter to a "safer" location. We are in "America", isn't it supposed to be as safe as it gets? Is the justice system contemplating whether this judge is going to lose his job? This is an obvious act of racism and he should be held responsible. To Shaquanda and her family, keep your head up and you will be lifted up! You’re in my prayers :)
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