I'm thinking it's important that this was a news story, and we don't know what they left out. And one thing they could have left out was the young lady's demeanor before the cell phone rang. The amount of open contempt I have seen SOME juveniles show in court is, to me, astonishing. Last week a pair of thugs and thier groupies persisted in whispering and giggling despite repeated warnings. They were begging to be sent up for contempt.
Yeah, there are arrogant judges. But it's also true that what goes on in court is important, and that the judges generally have an unbelievable number of cases to plow through. And in Juvie, where the judges with whom I come in contact really DO care about the kids, their families, and their outcomes, the emotional energy is pretty high. Juvie is the scariest court in our district, because juveniles aren't mature enough to know they're not going to get away with assault, and because the issues are emotionally deep issues.
21 days MIGHT be excessive, but I wouldn't say it was for shure until I knew the rest of what went on that day.
Get a clue. She actually spent NO additional time in jail for this offense. Read the full story. Being informed before forming an opinion is a good thing.
In the end, sitting in jail just may be the wakeup call she needed. I know of some who had lackadaisy attitudes about authority and responsibility and time in jail snapped them out of it. The previous slap-on-the-hands wasn't enough. Others who refused to learn are on their way or are in prison.