# RO: Judge Lanny Moriarty is an idiot **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 31, 2012, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-judge-lanny-moriarty-is-an-idiot/623635 "2012-05-31T07:22:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-judge-lanny-moriarty-is-an-idiot/623635/21 "2012-05-31T23:22:32Z")
You know, if we make something illegal, it doesn’t happen anymore. Right? ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-judge-lanny-moriarty-is-an-idiot/623635/22 "2012-05-31T23:23:54Z")
That’s the other side of the law. I can only think of two outcomes. Either you don’t miss school because you don’t want to go to jail, or it pushes you to simply drop out. Of course, that’s a perfectly fine outcome for the Randians… ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-judge-lanny-moriarty-is-an-idiot/623635/23 "2012-06-01T00:05:45Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > The problem here seems to be a judge who doesn’t understand that a large part of his job is to use his brain. Yer wunna dem libruls what wants more Actee-Vist Judges! Damn yew ta Hay-Elll! ---
**Author:** ![stw004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@stw004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stw004)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-judge-lanny-moriarty-is-an-idiot/623635/24 "2012-06-01T01:50:49Z")
Honestly, I’m having a hard time getting angry at the Judge, this should have never come to his court, the school administration has every opportunity to make necessary arrangements for kids in situations like this and obviously the Prinicpal at Willis High School dropped the ball and showed extreme dickery by filing the truancy complaint without considering Tran’s situation and exemplary academic performance. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-judge-lanny-moriarty-is-an-idiot/623635/25 "2012-06-01T02:24:16Z")
In all likelihood the school _had no choice_. You can’t fudge attendance records, and _a parent_ has to clear any absences. The principal can’t just lose the paperwork. The principal probably didn’t even know of the problem until it blew up. I doubt very much the administration could have picked her out of a line-up before she got notorious. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-judge-lanny-moriarty-is-an-idiot/623635/26 "2012-06-01T03:43:14Z")
> [@stw004](#): > > Honestly, I’m having a hard time getting angry at the Judge, this should have never come to his court, the school administration has every opportunity to make necessary arrangements for kids in situations like this and obviously the Prinicpal at Willis High School dropped the ball and showed extreme dickery by filing the truancy complaint without considering Tran’s situation and exemplary academic performance. Really? You want schools to start lying on their official records of how many students are absent? What happens if they start falsifying other records like how many cases of discrimination or violence are reported? Or how many students can pass basic knowledge tests? It’s a bad idea to adopt of policy of concealing problems rather than addressing them. Besides, if you take Moriarity out of the picture, the policy worked in this case. A week ago, Diane Tran was unknown and was facing this situation on her own. Moriarity bungled it but other people will now step in and offer Tran the help she needs. She’ll be better off for the fact that her situation was reported. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-judge-lanny-moriarty-is-an-idiot/623635/27 "2012-06-01T11:01:42Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > I thought you only had to attend school until you were 16 years of age. If you’re enrolled in school, you have the obligation to attend. The alternative is to drop out, and if she had tried to do that, she would have had the principal and counselors begging her to stay because she probably raises the NCLB testing averages and hurt their dropout rate. And one less student is one less source of funding, and the school can’t have that. And, truthfully, as bright as she sounds, the solution may well be for her to drop out, get her GED, attend community college for a year or two, then transfer to a four-year-school. This won’t hurt her academic or professional career, and she’ll get what she needs. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-judge-lanny-moriarty-is-an-idiot/623635/28 "2012-06-01T18:34:00Z")
> [@MsRobyn](#): > > And, truthfully, as bright as she sounds, the solution may well be for her to drop out, get her GED, attend community college for a year or two, then transfer to a four-year-school. This won’t hurt her academic or professional career, and she’ll get what she needs. I think you grossly under-estimate the stigma associated with a GED. I hope I’m wrong here, but the assumption seems to be “A GED is for idiots” and I doubt the community college will help matters. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-judge-lanny-moriarty-is-an-idiot/623635/29 "2012-06-01T18:49:07Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > I think you grossly under-estimate the stigma associated with a GED. I hope I’m wrong here, but the assumption seems to be “A GED is for idiots” and I doubt the community college will help matters. I think that greatly depends on what her high school record was (even if she didn’t finish), her SAT/ACT/whatever scores, and recommendations from former teachers. Throw in some good grades from a community college in some not so easy courses and that girl could easibly be IMO on the road to success, particularly when she throws in the whole “my parents were jerks and I was working two jobs while doing this to support my starving siblings” tear jerking story. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-judge-lanny-moriarty-is-an-idiot/623635/30 "2012-06-01T19:47:47Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > I think you grossly under-estimate the stigma associated with a GED. I hope I’m wrong here, but the assumption seems to be “A GED is for idiots” and I doubt the community college will help matters. Actually, among people who aren’t idiots, GED also means “Someone who, for one reason or another, didn’t finish school but is now taking responsibility for his or her own education and advancement.” Ditto for community college. My wife dropped out of high school. Some years later, after sitting a high school equivalency test, she enrolled at community college, transferred to UC Berkeley, and then went on to get an MA and PhD at Johns Hopkins. The university where i teach has a bunch of students who came from CC, and quite a few who didn’t finish high school and went the GED/CC route to get into a four-year degree program. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-judge-lanny-moriarty-is-an-idiot/623635/31 "2012-06-01T20:05:27Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Actually, among people who aren’t idiots Yes but she needs a majority… ---
**Author:** ![stw004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@stw004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stw004)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-judge-lanny-moriarty-is-an-idiot/623635/32 "2012-06-01T22:01:25Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Really? You want schools to start lying on their official records of how many students are absent? What happens if they start falsifying other records like how many cases of discrimination or violence are reported? Or how many students can pass basic knowledge tests? It’s a bad idea to adopt of policy of concealing problems rather than addressing them. . Attendance for the purpose of funding is reported to the state, truancy is reported to the local constables office. Tran did not get sent to jail because her absence cost the district money. She went to jail because the principal signed the list of names for the constable without properly diligencing it. If The school had made arrangements for Tran to make up absent time and she was proficient in all her TEKS there would be no issues with the state. Nobody, is suggesting that the school falsify anything, you should know what you are talking about before running the fucking hole in your face. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-judge-lanny-moriarty-is-an-idiot/623635/33 "2012-06-01T22:13:21Z")
> [@stw004](#): > > She went to jail because the principal signed the list of names for the constable without properly diligencing it. Properly “diligencing” it? Were you educated in Texas, by any chance? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-judge-lanny-moriarty-is-an-idiot/623635/34 "2012-06-01T22:13:44Z")
Shut the fuck up, asshole (eta: not you, **mhendo**. The jerk above you.). Why should the principal have to vet anything? She missed school, she got caught up by an asshole judge. The school doesn’t, in fact pretty much can’t do shit about her making up absent time without it being initiated by the parent. She went to jail because the judge was a dick. If she’d told her father she was missing school and he had called from work to excuse a few absences, none of this would have happened. ---
**Author:** ![stw004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@stw004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stw004)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-judge-lanny-moriarty-is-an-idiot/623635/35 "2012-06-01T22:23:34Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Properly “diligencing” it? > > Were you educated in Texas, by any chance? Posting from a mobile device. Apologies. ---
**Author:** ![stw004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@stw004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stw004)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-judge-lanny-moriarty-is-an-idiot/623635/36 "2012-06-01T22:27:10Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Shut the fuck up, asshole (eta: not you, **mhendo**. The jerk above you.). Why should the principal have to vet anything? She missed school, she got caught up by an asshole judge. The school doesn’t, in fact pretty much can’t do shit about her making up absent time without it being initiated by the parent. She went to jail because the judge was a dick. If she’d told her father she was missing school and he had called from work to excuse a few absences, none of this would have happened. Yes, I put the burden on the Principal, he has to sign the forms that go to the Constable. A Principal that actually gives a shit about the education of his/her students should do at least a cursory amount of work before calling the cops. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-judge-lanny-moriarty-is-an-idiot/623635/37 "2012-06-01T22:30:05Z")
Not to let facts get in the way of a good argument or anything, here is the Texas law: > [@](#): > > "Sec. 25.094. FAILURE TO ATTEND SCHOOL. (a) An individual commits an offense if the individual: > > (1) is required to attend school under Section 25.085; and > > (2) fails to attend school on 10 or more days or parts of days within a six-month period in the > > ``` > same school year or on three or more days or parts of days within a four-week period. > > ``` > [@](#): > > Sec. 25.087. EXCUSED ABSENCES. (a) A person required to attend school, including a person required to attend school under Section 25.085(e), may be excused for temporary absence resulting from any cause acceptable to the teacher, principal, or superintendent of the school in which the person is enrolled. > > (b) A school district shall excuse a student from attending school for: > > (1) the following purposes, including travel for those purposes: > > (A) observing religious holy days; or > > (B) attending a required court appearance; or > > (2) a temporary absence resulting from health care professionals if that student commences classes or returns to school on the same day of the appointment. > [@](#): > > (a) If a student fails to attend school without excuse on 10 or more days or parts of days within a six-month period in the same school year, **a school district shall within 10 school days of the student’s last absence** : > > (1) file a complaint against the student or the student’s parent or both in a county, justice, or municipal court for an offense under Section 25.093 or 25.094, as appropriate, or refer the student to a juvenile court in a county with a population of less than 100,000 for conduct that violates Section 25.094; or > > (2) refer the student to a juvenile court for conduct indicating a need for supervision under Section 51.03(b)(2), Family Code. The school has to report any qualifying absence streak to the authorities or they themselves could be charged. It would seem the law expects a judge to use, how shall we say… GOOD JUDGMENT about the particular situation and what would best serve the student and community. Jail time and a fine was not good judgment in this case and after over 250,000 people offered to hand him his ass on a platter at election time he quickly reversed the decision. ---
**Author:** ![stw004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@stw004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stw004)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-judge-lanny-moriarty-is-an-idiot/623635/38 "2012-06-01T22:32:26Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Shut the fuck up, asshole (eta: not you, **mhendo**. The jerk above you.). Why should the principal have to vet anything? She missed school, she got caught up by an asshole judge. The school doesn’t, in fact pretty much can’t do shit about her making up absent time without it being initiated by the parent. She went to jail because the judge was a dick. If she’d told her father she was missing school and he had called from work to excuse a few absences, none of this would have happened. And BTW its very common in other Texas districts for Principals/AP to make unannounced visits to students homes to address excessive absences, nothing has to be initiated by the parent. So why don’t you spend some time shutting the fuck up? ---
**Author:** ![stw004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@stw004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stw004)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-judge-lanny-moriarty-is-an-idiot/623635/39 "2012-06-01T22:43:00Z")
> [@Crazyhorse](#): > > Not to let facts get in the way of a good argument or anything, here is the Texas law: > > The school has to report any qualifying absence streak to the authorities or they themselves could be charged. It would seem the law expects a judge to use, how shall we say… GOOD JUDGMENT about the particular situation and what would best serve the student and community. Jail time and a fine was not good judgment in this case and after over 250,000 people offered to hand him his ass on a platter at election time he quickly reversed the decision. And during absences 1-9 you would expect the Administration to take steps to allow an otherwise excellent student to make up that time so as not to break the 10 absence barrier. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2012, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-judge-lanny-moriarty-is-an-idiot/623635/40 "2012-06-02T03:08:17Z")
> [@stw004](#): > > Posting from a mobile device. Apologies. Really? Did you accidentally hit the “shut your fucking hole” button again? You know how much that upsets your mother. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-judge-lanny-moriarty-is-an-idiot/623635.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-judge-lanny-moriarty-is-an-idiot/623635.md?page=3)