Michigan Judge Won’t Let Teen Out Of Detention Center, Says She “Was Not Detained” Over Homework

A judge, facing backlash for detaining a 15-year-old Michigan girl over homework, denied the teen’s release from a juvenile detention center on Monday.

“She was not detained because she didn’t turn her homework in,” Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Mary Ellen Brennan said Monday, according to ABC News. “She was detained because she was a threat to her mother. My role is to make decisions that are in this young lady’s best interest, period.”

The girl, who is referred to as “Grace” to protect her identity, has been in Oakland County’s Children’s Village since mid-May for violating the terms of her probation stemming from a case of alleged assault and theft.

According to the judge, police have been called out three times for confrontations between the girl and her mother, and she allegedly stole a cellphone from one of her classmates at Birmingham Groves High School.

Part of the terms of her probation was to complete schoolwork assignments, which she failed to do. However, Grace receives special education services, due to her ADHD diagnosis, and fell behind after struggling with online learning when her school was shut down during the coronavirus pandemic.

At sentencing, the judge told Grace that she was sending her to Children’s Village to get treatment and services.