#Michigan judge declines to free teen who didn’t do homework, calling her ‘a threat’

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Students protest in support of a Black Groves High School student, who was jailed due to a probation violation of not keeping up with her online schoolwork in Pontiac, Michigan.
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A 15-year-old Michigan girl who was sent to juvenile detention for violating probation by failing to complete her online coursework has been denied early release by the judge, who said the teen is a threat to her mother, according to a report.

The girl, identified only as Grace, has been jailed since May when the judge revoked her probation for her “failure to submit to any schoolwork and getting up for school” during the coronavirus pandemic, ProPublica has reported.

Her mom and advocates have accused the court of racial bias against Grace, a black special-needs student with ADHD living in a predominantly white village of Beverly Hills.

The girl was on probation on assault and theft charges related to a November assault on her mother, Judge Mary Ellen Brennan of Oakland Circuit Court said during a hearing Monday, The Detroit News reported.

“I miss my mom,” Grace told the court Monday. “I can control myself. I can be obedient.”

But Brennan said the decision to keep her incarcerated was for her own good, according to the news outlet.

“Give yourself a chance to follow through and finish something,” the judge said. “The right thing is for you and your mom to be separated for right now.”

Brennan also told the girl: “This morning, for you, unfortunately, is going to get worse before it gets better.”

Police have been called times for confrontations between Grace and her mother, Brennan said from the bench, adding that the girl bit her mom’s hand and pulled her hair.

“She was not detained because she didn’t turn her homework in,” Brennan said. “She was detained because she was a threat to her mother.”

The larceny charge stems from an alleged theft of a cellphone from a student at her school, Brennan added.

“My role is to make decisions that are in this young lady’s best interest, period,” she said. “I took an oath that I would not be swayed by public clamor or fear of criticism.”

Members of the activist group Michigan Liberation Action Fund protested outside the courthouse, arguing that the judge’s decision was too harsh.

“She is 15 years old,” said group leader Cherisie Evans, The Detroit News reportede. “I don’t understand how a 15-year-old with a problem can be locked up. Where is the counseling? Where are the resources?”

The nonprofit Michigan Center for Youth Justice assailed Brennan for not sending the girl home.

“Here is another instance of where a youth on probation was put in a confined setting for a behavior that is not a crime,” Mary King, the group’s executive director, said in a statement.

“We only know about Grace because the mother reached out to a reporter. Because there is no system for reporting such situations on the youth justice system, we have no idea how many other ‘Graces’ there are,” she added.

Jonathan Biernat, one of Grace’s lawyers, said after the hearing: “When a family asks the system for help, they should be given help.”

Her legal team have a motion for reconsideration pending before Brennan that Biernat said they hope she will rule on shortly.

Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper has until Friday to respond to that motion.