Free Talk Live

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said that's indicative of a larger issue in Detroit, where the lack of making parents accountable for their children partly is blamed on elevated truancy and dropout rates, as well as a recent rash of violent crimes involving teens.

Worthy has a new idea she hopes will fix the problem: Jail parents for up to three days for repeatedly missing scheduled parent-teacher conferences.

A Detroit-area prosecutor pushing a proposed statewide law that could jail parents for up to three days for repeatedly missing parent-teacher conferences continues to make her pitch.

Detroit Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy is pushing for a law that calls for jail time for parents who skip parent-teacher conferences, a plan some call inspired and others consider the nanny state run amok.

A teacher in the southern Idaho town of Declo is being criticized after she had her fourth-grade students use permanent markers to draw on the faces of children who failed to meet reading goals. Some parents and Cassia County School District leaders say the punishment given to nine students in Summer Larsen's class was inappropriate and left the children feeling shamed.

The parent-teacher conference is a ritual of American education. It can be as tense as a traffic stop. Or a moment of joy. That's if you show up for it.

Three parents were arrested last week because their children had been truant too many times, officials said Wednesday. The consequences for parents arrested for their child's truancy include up to one year in county jail and/or a $2,000 fine for each child not in compliance. "Sometimes we have to reinforce the idea that it is a crime to not send your child to school," said Chief Deputy DA Karen Bell. "We don't want to take that route, but some parents force our hand and give us no other choice but to file criminal charges."

Richard Fine, who holds a PhD in international law and served as an anti-trust prosecutor at the Department of Justice in Washington D.C., has been in jail in the L.A. County Jail for over a year in solitary confinement. He never had a trial, there has been no conviction, nor any sentence to keep him there.

Police said the student's mother knew about and allowed her daughter and the teacher to engage in the sexual conduct at her residence. She is a child social worker. I am sure the prosecutor blew a gasket on this one....

A Georgia woman who was convicted on misdemeanor charges in the death of her son who darted out into traffic will not spend time in jail, a judge ruled Tuesday.
The case of Raquel Nelson had attracted national notice from parents, the NAACP and even transportation advocates who said the Marietta woman was being unfairly pursued for just trying to cross the street as any other pedestrian would do.