Diane Tran Jailed For Working and Going to School

Diane Tran (17) is an honor role 11th grade high school student who was sentenced to 24 hours in jail by Judge Lanny Moriarty, and fined $100, for missing too much school. She works two jobs to support her brother and sister, since her parents divorced and her mother moved away, in addition to being an honor role student, and sometimes over sleeps because she is exhausted. The judge didn’t care about her grades, and neither did the school that took her to court, they only care if she misses too much school.

Since the Diane’s story went viral, hundreds of people have rallied to raise money for her. One group, called the Louisiana Children’s Education Alliance, set up a website named helpdianetran.com that reported it had raised nearly $40,000 for her.

Houston Councilman Al Hoang said what he worries about most is the criminal record she will now have because of this jail sentence:

“I’m going to ask the judge to expunge the record. The truancy laws should be applied case by case and in this case, it should not be applied. I believe Judge Moriarty should have used his discretionary power to excuse her from this matter.”

Yes he should have, and he should have commended Diane for being such an extrodinary young lady. The judge should have asked the school to help Diane work out a schedule that could help her work, and meet the school’s attendance requirements. Judges don’t work things out, they hand out punishment to whoever loses a case, period. The people who took Diane to court are the real jerks, those are the unnamed people who should have their names made public.

Everyday people give up trying because of jerks treating them badly when they try so hard like Diane. Don’t give up Diane, you are better than these jerks. We appreciate you as the ethical and hard working person that you are.