Honor student Diane Tran takes on Sherlock's...

With parents at odds with one another, 11<sup>th</sup> grade Willis High School honor student Diane Tran sought to juggle two jobs, maintain her grades, and keep up her younger brother and sister while her parents were away figuring it all out.

Judge Moriarty, a Sherlock Holmes worthy adversary, nipped that plan in the bud when he put the young woman in the slammer for 24 hours, and now the public is outraged that some man thought the best way to discipline a law-abiding hard-worker was to force her to spend the night with criminals who do anything but.

Outrage is so great it has inspired a fundraising effort that rivals some politicians on the circuit this upcoming November, with $40,000 already raised by the Louisiana Children's Education Alliance website.

And it's all likely to go to much better use than any political advertising being seen of late.

And who can blame Tran's supporters for their outrage, despite the fact that she has exceeded the state's 10-day absence limit within a six-month period?

This is a young woman subjected to a place overnight that is considered "hard-core" compared to the dry-cleaning business and wedding planner atmospheres where she works.

To add insult to injury, Moriarty (he really is living up to that name) also tacked on a $100 fine to go with Diane Tran's overnight visit to the gray bar motel, according to Fox News.

KHOU 11 reported that Moriarty felt that if he "let one [high school student] run loose, what are you going to do with the rest of them?" And he's got a point, of course, as there is a truancy law for a reason: to keep kids in school. However, surely the school was aware that this particular student had family problems at home that necessitated she be shown some compassion rather than a boot to the butt. Right?

After all, the goal is to keep kids in school like honor student Diane Tran. And sending them to jail and fining them isn't the way to set a suffering girl straight. It doesn't even appear to be working for many of the criminals who go there.

Comments: 8

Eric Hill May 29, 2012, 11:54pm UTC

I, little old me, actually called Judge Moriarty's office today (it's easy to find the number if you search for Judge Lanny Moriarty) and talked to a clerk. I called to give whoever would listen a hard time. But she told me that what is not being reported is that Judge Moriarty had no idea about Diane Tran's extenuating circumstances. Diane never told the judge, apparently. And if you watch the video that the local news did, you can sort of tell at the end that the reporter told him something he didn't know and he had some regrets. Why isn't this aspect of the story being reported? I think it's a more sensational story if the implication is that the judge knew the whole story but still sent her to jail. I think fault really lies with the school.

Eric

brian sounalath May 30, 2012, 12:05am UTC

You sleuth you. So you got their side of the story. Did you also call and interview the school? Or Diane Tran? Or someone who may know Diane Tran? You didn't interview the judge, just a low level clerk. And we can all just assume the clerk is well informed and honest and not trying to cover up the embarrassment and shame that has been brought upon the court he works for.

Call a couple of more sources and get all the sides of the story if you really want to shed light on the issue.

Larry Higo May 30, 2012, 1:43am UTC

So if that's the case Eric, when he learned of her travails, why didn't he do the decent thing and commute her sentence and pay the idiotic fine out of his own pocket. Instead he's let her sit with her a charge of contempt of court which are the charges, not truancy. Why would any decent person ever let an honor student bound for college have to put the fact that she has a charge of contempt of court on her record? He truly sounds like a piece of crap. The school is also to blame but clearly here's a case that the Justices should have a college degree as clearly this high school graduate Judge has no appreciation for college.

Larry Higo May 30, 2012, 2:21am UTC

Also, what kind of a poor excuse for a judge doesn't ask why someone was absent? What happened to deciding a case on its merits?

Bob M May 30, 2012, 7:53am UTC

Was there even a 'day in court' for Diane? Maybe the judge just received a list of truants and signs the list sentencing each person on the list to 24 hours in jail with a $100 fine--i.e., no 'day in court' for any of the truants. If she, Diane, did appear in front of the judge, did he not ask her why she was missing school? Did he not care to know her story? Why not? Why is he in the same building passing judgement on young people without him having a care in the world?

Come on judge, we want some answers.

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Sara Byrd May 30, 2012, 1:52pm UTC

That is exactly what I want to know. This judge had her in front of him not once but twice and he didn't know the circumstances? Yeah, if you watch the news tape you can clearly SEE the confusion on his face. So why did he not ask? Why did he not engage this girl in conversation, give her a chance to speak up for herself? Why did he not talk to her teachers or her employers? Could it have been a case of Asian-girl-in-Texas prejudice? Most likely. It could have been a "rubber stamp" moment so that the good judge could get to his lunch appointment. Whatever it was, clearly his excuse of NOT KNOWING is as much a proof of his irresponsibility as was his actions. Remove this idiot from the bench!

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Eric Hill May 30, 2012, 8:51pm UTC

Wow, tough crowd. I was ready to drop the hammer on the judge, too, and I agree that now that he knows the circumstances, he ought to do something. I just think the media did a poor job of not even making it clear what the judge knew and didn't know. Also, none of us were in the court to know what happened - did the judge ask Diane if she had anything to say, and she said nothing? Why didn't the school know her circumstances and stop issuing her truancy tickets? I'm just trying to avoid a rush to judgement on the judge.

Eric

Bob M May 30, 2012, 11:42pm UTC

It appears that any number of people have failed Diane--her parents, school administration, judge, court appointed legal administration(?) . . .

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Honor student Diane Tran takes on Sherlock's modern-day Moriarty

Comments: 8

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