Thursday, July 29, 2010
Justice Mary Alice Palacios (photo: Joel Martinez, McAllen Monitor)
Unable to pay fines for skipping school, teenagers as young as 13 in an impoverished Texas county have wound up spending weeks in local jails, according to a lawsuit filed against Hidalgo County. Lead plaintiffs Francisco De Luna and Elizabeth Diaz claim they spent 18 days in the Hidalgo County Adult Detention Facility for truancy tickets they received beginning when they were only 13 and 14 years old. The lawsuit says that about 150 teens have had their constitutional rights violated by being locked up for an offense that’s not supposed to be punishable with jail time.
The complaint focuses on one judge in particular, Justice of the Peace Mary Alice Palacios, who handles most of the charges of failing to attend school…sometimes hundreds per week. On Wednesday, July 28, Palacios was indicted by a Hidalgo County grand jury, charged with “official oppression” in regard to truant students. This charge can cover intentional denial of an individual’s rights by a public servant.
The median per capita income in Hidalgo County is $9,899, and 45% of children 18 and younger live in poverty.
-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky
Justice of the Peace Indicted for Truancy Jailings (by Jeremy Roebuck, McAllen Monitor)
County Sued Over 'School-to-Prison Pipeline' (by Cameron Langford, Courthouse News Service)
Francisco De Luna v. Hidalgo County (U.S District Court, Southern Texas) (pdf)
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