That's terrible!
“automatically arrests all students referred to MPD by the District. The children arrested by MPD are then sent to the County juvenile justice system"
Oh that uh... That's not QUITE so unreasonable
The children arrested by MPD are then sent to the County juvenile justice system, where existing due process protections are illusory and inadequate. The Youth Court places children on probation, and the terms of the probation set by the Youth Court and DYS require children on probation to serve any suspensions from school incarcerated in the juvenile detention center.”
Yeah, they're being tried and placed on probation, and getting suspended from school is a violation of that probation. They're not being arrested because they violated the dress code, they're being arrested because they took drugs to school, got arrested for it, then got placed on probation, and then get suspended for violating the dress code. The initial referral to MPD is what's important- the school is not calling the police because Joe American Junior was chewing gum in class.
It's fucked up and no doubt a giveaway by a corrupt school system to an even more corrupt juvenile justice system, but the thinkprogress article is warping the facts on this pretty horrendously.
edit:
oh hey it turns out that Meridian, Mississippi's crime rates are
twice the state average and on a steady incline And apparently the school has had
serious recurring issues with fighting, and
gang activity in the schools.
