Former President Donald Trump was recently spotted in a shocking video where he sent a message. He threatened to deploy the full power of the Departments of Justice and Education to upend local juvenile justice systems around the country. In his words, he wants to “end the leftist takeover of school discipline and juvenile justice” and send the federal government to oversee discipline in schools.
If Trump has his way—and surely he will not—the DOJ and DOE will take over student discipline. He claims without a whiff of evidence that local governments are indulging criminal activity. “When troubled youth are going wild, we will stop it. The consequences are swift, certain, and strong, and they will know that,” he said.
“Many of these carjackers and criminals are 13, 14 and 15 years old. I will order the education and justice departments to overhaul federal standards on disciplining minors,” the potentially soon-to-be felon pronounced.
In a bid to outdo Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his book bans, Trump wants the federal government to jump in front of governors, mayors, and school boards to go after children. Never mind that in many states children are all too often prosecuted as adults for certain crimes. The worst violent offenders can and sometimes do receive life sentences.
When Trump says children, he means any children. He means Black children from “shithole” cities like Atlanta and Chicago. According to Department of Justice data, Black juveniles are three times more likely to be incarcerated than Hispanics, and six times more likely to be incarcerated than white children. Racial disparities among children punished for the same offenses in school and in courtrooms are well-documented. The very idea of federalizing school discipline is absurd—not to mention unconstitutional and racist.
