We first met “Nadia” as an 8th grader arrested for theft under $1,000. Her crime? Simply being present when her friend was caught stealing a pack of gum. The police were called, and they were both arrested. What could and should have been a teachable moment for two adolescent girls instead became a frightening legal ordeal, wildly out of proportion given the minor level of the offense, and the fact that Nadia had no prior history of arrest.
In response to the arrest, the District Attorney’s office placed Nadia into a diversion program, which provides accountability to young people without incarceration. Nadia was already struggling that year. Her grandmother, with whom she had been very close, had recently passed away. Her grief made it hard for her to concentrate in class and her grades plummeted. If they slipped any further, she would be at risk of being kicked out of diversion and possibly even be incarcerated. Again, over a pack of gum. No one in the legal system took the time to understand what Nadia was going through. She needed help, and quickly.
That’s when LCCR stepped in. Her youth advocate, Cherrice, went to Nadia’s school to learn more about why she was struggling. Cherrice discovered in speaking with Nadia’s teachers that the girl exhibited clear signs of a learning disability. Nadia’s grief had exacerbated her struggle to focus and pay attention in class. The suspicion of her disability had been ignored by her school, which never tested her for supportive services but instead allowed her to continue to struggle and fail. Worse, the suspicion was never communicated with the court, with Nadia’s school struggles adversely affecting her case.
Cherrice pushed for the school to get Nadia tested and set up with an Individualized Education Program (IEP), which will provide the accommodations needed to help her learn with her disability. She also connected Nadia with grief counseling to help her process her grandmother’s death. With these much-needed interventions, Nadia began to pull her grades back up.
With this victory, Nadia’s LCCR attorney, Kayla, provided the court with evidence of her improvement, ensuring that she could remain in the diversion program. Cherrice then connected Nadia with a mentor to guide her as she planned for the future. Given her progress, Nadia’s case was soon dismissed. Now, she’s back to doing well in school and excited about getting a part-time job this summer.
Make no mistake, this kind of arrest does not happen to white kids in New Orleans. In a reasonable world, juvenile misbehavior would be met with age-appropriate consequences—a parent being called, the child being told to apologize and make restitution. But Black youth in New Orleans typically aren’t afforded this treatment. Instead, the simple theft of a pack of gum leads to arrest, court involvement, and a child—two children in this case—facing the precipice of having their lives ruined as they’re put into the prison pipeline.
We as a community must do better for our kids, all of our kids. Treating some with fairness and reason while treating others with disproportionate harshness sends a stark message to our youth about who is valued in our community and who isn’t. It’s a waste of time and resources (police, court, LCCR) to arrest and prosecute a child for such a minor offense. We wish we could say this kind of thing doesn’t happen very often, but we cannot. We’re grateful to have been able to support Nadia and that she’s in a better place now, but truth be told, she shouldn’t have been put into the system in the first place.
