Judges Should Use Judgement

Article: Judge dismisses contempt charges against truant honor student Diane Tran


Apparently, the Montgomery County judge who sentenced a 17 year old girl to a day in jail for truancy has dropped the charges.  Thank God.

Texas has some pretty tough truancy laws.  A student is only allowed to miss 10 days per semester.  Diane Tran has exceeded that limit.  She had already been warned by the courts, so when she missed yet another day, the judge charged her with a misdemeanor and threw her in jail.

Sounds like a good idea, right?

Except Tran is an A student who works two jobs to support her siblings after her parents abandoned them.  She missed school because she was simply too exhausted to go.

I'm opposed to the strict enforcement of laws and mandated penalties.  I believe that justice should be tempered by mercy.  Each case should be judged according to its circumstances.  Most of the time, a judge should simply follow the law and sentencing guidelines.  But the Tran case is an example of why we use judges rather than computers to run our courtrooms.

Judges should use judgement.  They need to assess the case to determine is the law will provide justice.  If the answer is no, as in this case, then the judge should exercise his or her authority to not enforce the law.  It's a judge's job to ensure that our legal system protects victims rather than creating them.

To help Diane Tran, a group has started a website to raise money for the family.  helpdianetran.com