Miss Ginger's Kangaroo Court®

Here again is Miss Ginger Grant with more riveting cases from the courts of Harris County Texas, and in Miss Ginger's Kangaroo Court®, YOU, dear GingerSnaps, are the sole judge and jury!  So let's get cracking!

Jakadrien Turner, a 15 year old Dallas girl with clearly a troubled home life, ran away to Houston, shoplifted, and got caught.  Apparently not wanting to be returned to her mother's custody, the young girl made the very poor decision to lie about her identity,  giving the name of a 22 year old Columbian national upon her arrested.  Jakadrien identified herself as Tika Lanay Cortez, and claimed that she could have her passport and and Columbian identification papers sent to authorities. She couldn't, and ultimately she was deported, and lived in Columbia for a period of time long enough to get pregnant. Her grandmother finally tracked her down in Columbia, worked with authorities to get her returned to the US, and now her mother (the one she ran away from) is suing the DHS, the Justice Department, and Janet Napolitano for $15 million dollars!! 

Here's where the story gets a bit sketchy, so grab a glass of wine- the Kangaroo Court will wait.

Jakadrien told authorities that after she ran away, she fell in love with "a trafficker", whatever the hell that means.  Of course, he abused her. Of course, he threatened to kill her and her family if she tried to leave. And of course, she managed to miraculously escape him, yet never told authorities about him until the whole ugly mess landed in court.

Apparently, in the short two weeks between her escape from her captor and her arrest, she met some people with family in Columbia.  Throughout her time in jail, she made multiple phone calls to these people, all the while maintaining the alias of Tika Lanay Cortez. Her new friends were unable to provide her with false documentation to prove her legitimacy in the US, so she was deported. 

Here's where the game of "he say's/she say's" starts.  The Associate Press says it reviewed some 15 phone calls that were recorded during her incarceration, and throughout all of those calls she maintained the alias of Tika Lanay Cortez.  But once a Dallas TV station shined its cameras on her upon her return, she's all "Oh, no, I told them I'm just little 15 year old Jakadrien Turner and I wanna go home to my momma!"  

Now, keep in mind, this little girl plead guilty to the shoplifting charge. She never told her attorney that she was lying about her name.  She was told of the immigration hold, and had 8 days to muddle this over in her mind and say "oh, I'm just kidding" but she never did.  And once she was handed over to Immigration authorities, she never told them she was an American citizen, and never complains of the deportation.

So now Granny, on the left, has her baby girl back, to spoil and love the way only a grandmother can.  And her Momma, on the right, has dollar signs in her eyes as she claims her baby girl has been a victim of discrimination.

"Ms. Turner's illegal detention and deportation are the direct and foreseeable consequence of official policies, patterns, practices and customs that manifest not only intentional discrimination based on race and ethnicity and a failure to recognize basic principles of due process, but also a reckless disregard for human life and liberty," according to the lawsuit.

So, what say ye, jury?  Does Momma get $15 million in reparation for  violation of her daughter's civil rights, or does the suit get thrown out as frivolous? Do you think it would have been handled differently had her skin been a different color? Read the evidence, and you decide.... in the comments section, of course!!