On Tuesday, April 26, 2011 the Texas Senate approved a bill against ticketing students younger than 12 years old for things such as fighting or being disruptive during class. Ticketing students became a huge issue after a report by Texas Appleseed showed that African American students composed only 30% of the students in DISD but received 62% of the citations. Last year, two hundred and eighty-eight tickets were issued to 10 to 11 year-old students in Dallas schools. Additionally, the Senate approved a bill which essentially reworks truancy enforcement. The bill would require schools to deal with truancy by implementing anti-truancy measures before issuing a ticket. Specifically, schools would have to report how they used anti-truancy measures to intervene before the student is ticketed. Opponents of the legislation said that the bills remove a valuable tool in student discipline, because students are less likely to misbehave if they know they can be ticketed for it. Bill supporters, however, state that tickets do not prevent misbehavior, will scar the student’s record and bring a child into the criminal justice system too early—all for infractions that used to be dealt with by the school principal. Both bills are now headed to the House for approval.
For information on Texas criminal law contact The Wright Firm, L.L.P. at 972-353-4600 or visit us on the web at www.thewrightlawyers.com.
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