The trial in the AirPods ticket case we’ve been writing about will start today with jury selection.

Attorneys will question potential jurors & settle on the six who will decide the case. 🧵

(Read yesterday’s preview thread for a recap👇)

https://twitter.com/Jodiscohen/status/1688602235565940737

2/ Once the jury is seated, both sides likely will make opening statements.

How did a dispute over a ticket issued to a high school student set off a 3 1/2-year legal battle?

An extraordinarily rare trial is set to begin tomorrow about 30 miles west of Chicago — and we'll be there to bring you the story for @ProPublica 🧵👇
https://t.co/NHhFk2uLMRpropublica.org/article/school…
2/ In 2019, police issued then 17-year-old Amara Harris a ticket for theft of AirPods at her Naperville, IL, school.

Now a college senior, she’s maintained her innocence & refused to pay the max $500 fine. The city, meanwhile, hasn’t wavered in seeking to hold her accountable.

1/ This summer, I met a 16-year-old and his mother at the police station in Palatine, a Chicago suburb.

The student, who is Black, was there to contest a police ticket he got at his high school.

What happened that day was interesting, but so is what happened before and after… 2/ His troubles started in April, when the school resource officer accused him of damaging a fence that students regularly use as a shortcut.

The teen said he told the officer that he walked through a gap in the fence that was already there.

The officer gave him a $200 ticket.

1/ Did you know that police officers regularly issue tickets -- the kind that come with big fines -- to students at school?

I didn’t realize how common it was when @jsmithrichards and I started looking into school policing a year ago.

Let me tell you what we found… @jsmithrichards 2/ We found school employees report student misbehavior to police, who then write citations for reasons like vaping.

This student was ticketed for carrying pepper spray on her backpack. Her mom gave it to her for safety; The school said they contact police re: chemical spray

Update on Grace’s case: Despite pleas from her attorney and agreement from the prosecutor, the Oakland County judge decided the girl should stay in placement outside the home.

More to come. Grace has done everything asked of her while detained/in treatment, caseworkers said.
The judge spoke at length about the troubled relationship between teen and mom:

"You are exactly where you are supposed to be. You are blooming there but there is more work to be done."

When I answered the phone, the caller began by asking:
“Is there a ProPublica Michigan?”

She had a story to tell, about a teenage girl who was in juvenile detention for not doing her online schoolwork during the pandemic. The girl was her daughter. (There’s no ProPublica Michigan, but I started looking into it anyway.)

A bit about the girl, Grace: she’s a HS sophomore. She’s been raised by her mother. She likes winter sports, road trips and composing music, her mother says. They appeared in a “Pure Michigan” tourism ad.

1/ Illinois lawmakers heard three hours of testimony this week about seclusion and restraint in schools. It was emotional and, some said, long overdue. I want to share some quotes from the hearing that reflect the discussion. propublica.org/article/illino… 2/ @repjcarroll shared a personal story of his own traumatic experience with seclusion as a child. “It was horrible that we treat children with special needs the same way we treat our most hardened criminals,” he said.

1/ While reporting on Chicago police misconduct, I met Xavier Hopkins, a musician who wrote a rap inspired in part by his run-in with police. Here’s a video I took of @itboy_X performing it. Watch it, then I'm going to tell you about what happened to him: 2/ Hopkins was 23 and a graduate student studying criminal justice. He and four friends were in town for @TasteofChi in 2009 when they were stopped by Officer Matthew O’Brien. They were handcuffed together as the officer searched Xavier’s car.