9486 in the collection  

10-Year-Old El Paso Boy Gets $260 Ticket

You have to wonder what people are even thinking to have such a law on the books.


by Miri Marshall

EL PASO, Texas -- It all started with a phone call. "Well, the school called me it was about nine, and told me that my son had an incident at school,” said Charity Walka, recalling a morning about a month ago.

But little did Walka know that her son’s trouble in class would hit her in the pocket. She said her son has a behavioral disorder and was on medication and couldn't stay awake in class at Travis Elementary School.

"So he fell asleep again, and when they tried to wake him, he got angry," Walka said.

She said her son then left the classroom after a teacher tried to restrain him. She said her son also made noise in the hall and he laid down on the floor and wouldn't get up. For disrupting class, officers at El Paso Independent School District gave her 10-year-old son a ticket for $260 and it is a Class C Misdemeanor. She said her son did not hurt anyone.

"It was just devastating. I was just so angry. He doesn't understand," Walka told KFOX.

KFOX reporter Miri Marshall spoke with EPISD officials who said the ticket is legal under Texas law.

"The Texas Family Code does allow for a student who is 10 years of age or older to be cited under this type of offense," said Berenice Zubia, a spokesperson for El Paso Independent School District.

Marshall found a copy of the law on a legal Web site, showing it falls under Texas Education Code 37.124, although an age was not specified in a version KFOX found.

Zubia said it is rare that elementary school students get cited for disrupting class and the fines collected do not go to the school district. She said students can receive citations after a series of incidences of misbehavior. The tickets then go to a Justice Of The Peace for a final decision.

Law or not, Walka didn't take the ticket sitting down. She fought it and it was dismissed.

Papers show she was supposed to go to court on the matter on Tuesday. She said her son was going to have to enter a plea, but she said he would not understand what a plea is.

"I could see him getting a citation for drugs or weapons in the school, but disrupting the class, that just seems a bit much. I don't think the punishment fits the crime," Walka said.

— Miri Marshall
KFOX TV
2009-10-06
http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/251047/october-05-2009/arne-duncan

---

INDEX OF OUTRAGES

Pages: 380   
[1] 2 3 4 5 6  Next >>    Last >>