密歇根州庞蒂亚克——底特律郊区的一名法官因一名15岁的女孩不做家庭作业而将她送进青少年拘留所,在上诉法院下令释放该女孩后,该法官于周二将她从缓刑期释放。
奥克兰巡回法院法官玛丽·艾伦·布伦南采纳了一名社会工作者的建议,终止该案,并让这名被称为“格蕾丝”的女孩继续在家接受精神健康治疗。
据《公共报》报道,这名女孩在4月份因涉嫌袭击和盗窃而被判缓刑,自5月份以来,她一直在奥克兰县儿童村,因为违反了缓刑规定。
据《底特律新闻》报道,布伦南表示,密歇根上诉法院7月31日下令从儿童村释放格雷斯的决定实际上束缚了下级法院的手脚。她说,格蕾丝似乎受益于她在医院接受的治疗。没有提供治疗的细节。
布伦南说:“这个法庭的目标是把她(在儿童村)是为了解决违法行为和改善她和她的母亲在家里的生活。”
在缓刑的要求中,格雷斯被期望完成她的学业。患有注意力缺陷多动症并接受特殊教育服务的格蕾丝在向在线学习过渡的过程中步履维艰,落在了后面。
布伦南最初以“未能服从任何学校作业和起床上学”为由,决定将这名青少年拘留。
但是法官在7月20日在庞蒂亚克举行的听证会上说,格蕾丝被关在青少年管教所是因为她对她的母亲是一种威胁,而且警方已经因为两人之间的冲突而被传唤了三次。
根据法庭文件,布伦南曾表示,该女孩是对社区的威胁,基于11月份涉及她母亲的袭击指控。这名女孩还被指控从底特律西北部贝弗利山的伯明翰格罗夫斯高中的一名同学那里偷了一部手机。
格雷斯的律师马赛·哈利勒指控布伦南在此案中“行为冷酷”。
“你剥夺了我的当事人获得精神健康治疗的权利,而这种治疗是通过她的学校提供的...在一次庭审中,该法院公开痛骂了这名儿童。”
Judge: Teen jailed over homework released from probation
PONTIAC, Mich. -- A suburban Detroit judge who sent a 15-year-old girl to a juvenile detention facility for not doing her homework released the teen from probation on Tuesday, after an appeals court ordered her release.
Oakland Circuit Judge Mary Ellen Brennan adopted a caseworker’s recommendation that the case be terminated and that the girl, called “Grace” to protect her identity, continue receiving mental health treatment at home.
The girl was placed on probation in April in a case involving allegations of assault and theft, and had been in Oakland County’s Children’s Village since May for violating that probation, according to ProPublica.
Brennan said a Michigan Court of Appeals decision July 31 ordering Grace's release from Children's Village effectively tied the lower court’s hands, The Detroit News reported. She said Grace appeared to be benefiting from the treatment she had received at the facility. No details of that treatment have been provided.
“This court’s goal to place her (in Children’s Village) was to address delinquent behavior and improve life at home for her and her mother,” Brennan said.
Among the requirements of her probation, Grace was expected to complete her schoolwork. Grace, who has ADHD and receives special education services, struggled with the transition to online learning and fell behind.
Brennan initially cited a “failure to submit to any schoolwork and getting up for school” for her decision to place the teen in juvenile detention.
But the judge said at a July 20 hearing in Pontiac that Grace was placed in the juvenile facility because she was a threat to her mother and that police had been called out three times for confrontations between the two.
Brennan had said the girl was a threat to the community based on an assault allegation involving her mother in November, according to court documents. The girl was also accused of stealing a cellphone from a fellow student at Birmingham Groves High School in Beverly Hills, northwest of Detroit.
An attorney for Grace, Saima Khalil accused Brennan of “callous conduct” during the case.
“You have deprived my client access to mental health treatment that was available through her school ... and this court publicly lambasted the child during a court hearing.”