Students rack up fines and fees for minor infractions
Michele Nepras and her son Nathan, 16, talk with McHenry city prosecutor Michael Fioretti, center, and adjudication hearing officer Harry H. Semrow Jr. in March. Nathan had received a ticket for disorderly conduct related to a fight on a school bus. Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune
Last Thursday, the Chicago Tribune and ProPublica co-published a deep-dive investigation of this ticketing practice entitled “The Price Kids Pay: Schools and police punish students with costly tickets for minor misbehavior.” It documented more than 11,800 tickets issued during the last three school years: $200 for truancy, $175 for bringing a vaping device to school, $250 for shoving a friend over a bottle of Lipton peach iced tea.
Thousands of students under the age of 18 – some as young as 8 years old – receive tickets from police officers for incidents that occur on school grounds. It's not only amplifying the consequences of adolescent behavioral misconduct but also violating the intent of at least two Illinois laws.
For a discussion of the practice, the fallout from the investigation, and the effect this has on students, The 21st was joined by the journalists who spearheaded this investigation and a staff attorney for Loyola University Chicago School of Law's Civitas ChildLaw Clinic.
GUESTS:
Jennifer Smith Richards
Reporter, The Chicago Tribune
Jodi S. Cohen
Reporter, ProPublica
Jackie Ross
Adjunct Professor and Staff Attorney, Civitas ChildLaw Clinic, Loyola University Chicago’s School of Law
Illinois law bans schools from fining students. It’s happening anyway, as police write tickets up to $750 for minor offenses.https://t.co/CwO3VcSZYp
— Chicago Tribune (@chicagotribune) April 29, 2022
Prepared for web by Owen Henderson
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