• ohitsbreadley
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    1 year ago

    Not with an arrest record at age 11. Medical school applications, state medical licenses, controlled substance prescription licenses, hospital credentialing applications, etc - all of the underlying bureaucracy of being a clinician (understandably) require background checks with clean records.

    Unless his lawyer can get the record sealed and expunged, he’ll most likely have to explain this event at every turn. One would hope that juvenile records could be explained away, but the field is so competitive that it could very well be the thing that keeps him from pursuing his dream.

    All because a shitbag principal didn’t want to deal with the requests of an 11 year old grieving his father and opportunistically punished him for it on the alleged word of another dumbass child’s idea of a practical joke.

    Even if he actually said it - he’s an 11 year old, with a prefrontal cortex that is just starting to come online, on the hormonal cusp of puberty, trying to deal with the complex social dynamics of being 11 and changing schools, getting bullied about his haircut and clothes by a shitty adult abusing their authority.

    I cant help but wonder how the situation would be if he was white.

    • kofe@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      Not that the rest of your comment isn’t valid about his developmental risks, but juvenile records aren’t public and I believe usually expunged when the kid turns 18.

      • Davin@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        That’s the way it should work. But my wife has something on her record from when she was a minor that was supposed to be expunged and sealed, but keeps popping up from time to time.

    • Inept@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      IANAL, but Texas Article 45.0218 would likely offer some protection to the kiddo since it’s a Class C Misdemeanor. The short of it is that being held or detained doesn’t mean that the individual was “prescribed jail time.”

      However, since the Texas Observer is shamelessly plugging away and, as a result, search engines may recognize the child’s name, then the article (and similar “news” reports) will likely have more disastrous impacts than the actual event since the print industry is declining/desperate and the internet never forgets.

      • ohitsbreadley
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        1 year ago

        Not a lawyer either, but although I agree with that interpretation, I’m not sure where Class C Misdemeanor comes from.

        The article states that:

        Cameron County prosecutors pushed for Class C felony charges of “terroristic threat” and argued for two more weeks of detention. Instead, Judge Adela Kowalski-Garza ordered a safety risk evaluation and conditional release home until his hearing November 8.

        I used your link to search for “terroristic threat,” and found this statute:

        Penal Code Section 22.07 - Terroristic Threat

        There is no mention of a Class C Misdemeanor in that statute; so I’m not sure what the Texas Observer is talking about.

        Again, not a lawyer, but by my reading of 22.07, it seems like this ridiculous charge would be a Class A Misdemeanor under:

        Subsection (a)(2):

        (a) A person commits an offense if he threatens to commit any offense involving violence to any person or property with intent to: … (2) place any person in fear of imminent serious bodily injury; …

        With the penalty described in subsection ©(2):

        © An offense under Subsection (a)(2) is a Class B misdemeanor, except that the offense is a Class A misdemeanor if the offense: … (2) is committed against a public servant.

        Class A misdemeanors carry both a fine up to $4000 and jail time up to 1 year.

        Texas Penal Code Section 12.21 - Class a Misdemeanor

        • Inept@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          TBH, I’m not sure if either of us (The Texas Observer and myself) know what we’re talking about. IIRC, Texas classifies felony charges as 1st, 2nd, or 3rd degree offenses and Misdemeanors as Class A, B, or C by their severity.

          The fact that they would consider it a “Felony”, or anything other than frivolous, is disheartening though I appreciate your efforts to research and correct any potential misinformation that I may have spouted. (Good catch, btw)

          SMDH, Texas 🤷

    • neanderthal@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Stop and think about this. The only evidence is hearsay. There is a long string of evidence of retaliation. What jury would actually convict this kid because of this? We don’t know that it actually happened. It could all be made up. The kid will walk, they will sue for enough money he will walk out of med school debt free.