Nation IN BRIEF : COLORADO : Court Rules Truants May Be Incarcerated

The Colorado Supreme Court ruled that judges can send truant children to juvenile detention facilities if the students violate court orders to attend school. The issue arose last year after a Colorado Springs youth ignored repeated orders of a juvenile judge to attend school. Colorado law requires school attendance until age 16. The judge had sentenced the youth to 25 days. He served 22 days before the Supreme Court suspended the sentence until it could rule on his appeal. Lawyers for the youth, who was not identified, argued that juvenile court judges have options other than jailing truants.