Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 3 May 2007 — Page 37

The Muncie Times • May 3, 2007 • Page 37

NEWS BRIEFS

Compiled by Andrea' Scott Shaquanda, 14, free after year in Texas correctional facility DALLAS--Four days after a spirited but peaceful rally, 15-year-old Shaquanda Cotton was freed from a Texas Youth Commission facility in Brownwood. Although it ended her 1year sentence for allegedly shoving a hall monitor at her high school, it has not ended the controversy and momentum of what nationally renowned comedian Rickey Smiley calls steps toward a second civil rights movement. “A fire cannot start without a spark” Smiley, the leader behind the rally, said. “You’ve all started a whole movement. This is not the end.” Two days after Cotton’s release, she celebrated with Smiley on his Dallas morning radio show. “I feel like I have a second chance,” Cotton told The Chicago Tribune. “I think I’m a good person, but I’m going to be a better person. - Cotton later told The Dallas Examiner: “If it wasn’t for our people making this public, I would still be there.” Cotton’s release was made possible by a collaborative effort between State Rep. Harold Dutton (D-Houston), chair of the House Juvenile Justice Committee and Jay Kimbrough, the newly

appointed TYC conservator, appointed by Gov. Perry to investigate the scandal, within the agency, about several inmates being sexually and physically abused. Cotton’s sentencing was first reported by The Chicago Tribune on March 12 and rapidly spread among the African American internet blogging community. Upon learning of the story, Smiley used his radio show to campaign for her release. Smiley’s studio at KBFB 97.9. The Beat, was packed with Cotton’s friends, family and supporters as they spoke of what her story means to African Amer icans and the judicial system. The unraveling of details placed accountability and responsibility not only on Paris’ alleged racially charged environment, but also on the strength of black leadership. Shaquanda’s mother Creola, refuted several segments of previous reports, including whether Shaquanda even shoved the hall monitor. “She did not do what she’s accused of doing. I don’t care what they put in the newspaper” Creola said. Despite Shaquanda’s blog (www.freeshaquandacotton.blogspot.com) stating that she shoved a hall monitor, Creola and her daughter both claimed it was the other way around. “They charged her with pushing a hall monitor. She didn’t,” Creola told The Dallas Examiner.

“Shaquanda was the one that was injured. They didn’t assist her with any medical needs or anything. They just let her sit there. She had a contusion on her forehead, a small laceration on the palm of her hand and a strained neck. And we have the medical recor ds to prove it. She was pushed into a metal door and that was when she hurt her head.” Shaquanda often received written reprimands on trivial matters, Creola said, regarding reports that she was constantly getting in trouble in school. “After they arrested her, they started writing her up five times a day,” Creola Cotton said. “Then when it was time for her trial that was her criminal record, those write-ups. "She got written up once for raising her hand to tell the teacher she was cold, for pouring too much paint in a cup’ for turning her head toward the window, she got write-ups.” Creola Cotton denied there was ever an offer of probation for Shaquanda that she reportedly refused, causing Judge Chuck Superville to sentence her. “That is not true and we have the documents to prove it,” she said. “Shaquanda has maintained her innocence through everything” So how does a lawyer allow a 13-year-old to be sentenced to an indefinite term of incarceration for something that generally is resolved by alternative education or in-school

suspension? Shaquanda said she and her mother met her attorney 5 minutes before her hearing. “I don’t think he did a good job. I think we could have gotten better assistance,” she said. Cotton also complained about her being labeled an irresponsible parent by a spokesperson for Superville and District Attorney Gary Young. “What they mean by being irresponsible is because I challenged any of the write-ups the school had. I felt I was doing what a good parent would do if their children are having a problem in school, you go see what it is,” she said. “They have a procedure that you follow where you fill out paperwork just to see the superintendent. This is why they’re saying I’m an unfit mother, because I filed complaints. “I have no history of drinking or drugs or any kind of abuse. It’s because I file d so many complaints against the school and the police department that [they felt] Shaquanda didn’t need to be in my care because [they said] I was teaching her hate and not adhering to white authority.” Brenda Cherry, a family friend and president of Concerned Citizens for Racial Equality, said the same thing is happening to other African American students. “It’s worse now, rather than better. They’re angry because Shaquanda was

released,” Cherry said. "What they did to Shaquanda Cotton, I think it’s just another form of a public lynching. They used her write-ups as (a) criminal record. They’re using one-sided evidence; at least they did with Shaquanda. “There is a lot of retaliation in Paris. If you speak out, you will get retaliated against, one way or another, even by the police department or by the school district.” “Now, what you’re saying is, by them being angry because Shaquanda was released, they’re going to retaliate against the other black students” Smiley asked. “Another student may be put on OCS (OnCampus Suspension) because he attended the march and was quoted in the Paris News,” Cherry said. Shaquanda said of her year in the Ron Jackson Correctional facility: “I didn’t like it there. I had to take a lot of stuff from the girls. “They pushed me and bumped into me. I just had to sit there and deal with it. Some of the guards tried to help me out, but others didn’t care and they would write me up for stuff I wasn’t doing." Despite her difficult situation Shaquanda was determined to stay strong, “I said (to myself) that my family’s depending on me.” Smiley said continued on page 38