TYC Scandal: Shaquanda Cotton Is Freed

One bright spot in the TYC Scandal:

Shaquanda Cotton, whose yearlong stay in a juvenile prison for pushing a hall monitor brought out protesters claiming racial bias, was released Saturday, a state lawmaker said.

The 15-year-old was freed from the Ron Jackson Correctional Complex and picked up by her mother, said Rep. Harold Dutton, chairman of the House juvenile justice committee who lobbied state officials for Ms. Cotton’s release.

Mr. Dutton said Ms. Cotton and her family headed back to Paris, in East Texas, where there have been protests in the last two weeks calling for her release.

“She had a whole cavalry” when she was picked up, said Mr. Dutton, a Houston Democrat.

Attempts to reach the Cotton family by phone weren’t successful.

Ms. Cotton was sentenced on a felony count of shoving a teacher’s aide, who is classified as a public servant, at Paris High School in 2005. She had no prior criminal convictions.

Supporters say the fact that the same judge sentenced a white 14-year-old girl to probation for burning down her own house showed racial bias.

Her release was approved by Jay Kimbrough, the conservator appointed by Gov. Rick Perry to lead the state’s juvenile justice agency, which has been wracked by allegations of sexual abuse.

That’s one thing that Kimbrough has done right, so we’ll give him credit for that. One thing that had held up her release was that she was caught with contraband—an extra pair of socks. So, rectifying that injustice is a good thing.

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