Dumb Logic

Jailed honor student case sparks outrage: Judge says he can't be "soft" afterlocking up working teen

Diane Tran
Judge Lanny Moriarty

Think Generation Y is lazy and entitled? Well, for every teen that destroys a house trying to pull off the next Project X, there's a Diane Tran.

A junior at Willis High School, honor student Tran's class schedule is full of advanced placement and dual-credit courses, but that didn't stop Montgomery County Judge Lanny Moriarty from making an example out of her, sentencing her to 24 hours in jail and a $100 fine for truancy.

"The state of Texas is sentencing a young girl to a night of jail for being too emotionally and physically exhausted to go to school."

Tran admits she missed school, but it was because the 17-year-old was often exhausted. After her parents suddenly divorced and moved away, Tran was left in Willis to support herself, an older sibling in college and a younger sibling that is living with family in Houston. While maintaining her straight-A scores, Tran works a full-time job at a dry cleaners and a part-time job at a special events venue. A friend told KHOU that Tran often stays up until 7 a.m. completing her homework.

"I can understand if a child is staying out of school, running around, a bad kid, getting into trouble, taking drugs," Mary Elliot, Tran's boss at her weekend job, told ABC News. "I can understand why he would slap them into jail for 24 hours. But Diane doesn't do that.

"All she does is work and go to school."

Tran had already been warned once by the court about her attendance, and when she was absent from school last Wednesday, Moriarty sent out a summons and had her arrested in open court and jailed.

“If you let one run loose, what are you gonna’ do with the rest of ‘em? Let them go too?” Moriarty told KHOU, which first reported the story. When presented with the details of the teen's case, Moriarty said he hadn't considered vacating the sentence because it would make him look "soft."

But Tran's story has sparked international concern and outrage, getting picked up everywhere from Reddit to Gawker to the International Business Times.

"The state of Texas is sentencing a young girl to a night of jail for being too emotionally and physically exhausted to go to school. The institutions that are to provide resources to youth and ensure justice are instead punishing her like a criminal," reads a petition on Change.org that has gathered over 35,000 signatures. The petition asks that Moriarty cancel Tran's fine and sentencing, with some pointing out that having a criminal record could hurt the teen's dream of becoming a doctor.

The Louisiana Children's Education Alliance has also set up a website and a trust fund for Tran, and individuals have donated more than $38,000 already.

Watch KHOU's report:

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are you happy?

Houston continues sad streak as one of the 'unhappiest' U.S. cities

Photo by Damaris Martin on Unsplash

Even with a poor ranking, you still shouldn't ask us to "smile more."

A new nationwide study analyzing the happiest cities in America has determined Houston is slightly happier than it was last year, but it still appears to be one of the unhappiest U.S. cities in 2026.

Houston currently ranks as the 128th happiest U.S. city. Last year, it was No. 151.

WalletHub determined the happiest cities in America based on 29 relevant metrics based on "positive-psychology research" across three main categories: emotional and physical wellbeing, income and employment, and community and environment. As with most WalletHub studies, it compared the 182 most populous U.S. cities.

Fremont, California claimed the top spot as the happiest city nationwide for another year. Bismark, North Dakota and Scottsdale, Arizona, respectfully, rounded out the top three.

Here's how WalletHub ranked Houston across the three key dimensions:

No. 107 – Emotional and physical wellbeing
No. 148 – Income and employment
No. 158 – Community and environment

Despite its low ranking, Houstonians are working hard to improve their city's quality of life year after year, whether its through opening new restaurants, inviting Houston-born stars to perform at the rodeo, or having a strong job market. We also have some of the best museums, a diverse culinary scene, and iconic institutions like the Johnson Space Center. And considering that people keep moving here, Houston must be happier than other places.

Having a good job and a fun social life can qualify as factors that measure happiness, but WalletHub separately emphasized that making more money doesn't necessarily mean "more" happiness.

"For decades, researchers have explored the science of happiness and identified several core factors, including mental well-being, physical health, strong social ties, job satisfaction, and financial stability," the report said. "Still, income has its limits — studies show that earning more than $75,000 a year does not lead to greater happiness."

Elsewhere in Texas
The Dallas suburb Plano and its residents' happiness far outshines the rest of Texas, according to WalletHub. Plano ranked as the 16th happiest U.S. city, and the No. 1 happiest statewide. Austin was the only other Texas city to rank among the top 50, landing in the No. 39 spot.

This is how other Texas cities ranked in the report:

No. 70 – Irving
No. 92 – Garland
No. 106 – Grand Prairie
No. 111 – Dallas
No. 113 – Fort Worth
No. 119 – Arlington
No. 135 – Lubbock
No. 137 – El Paso
No. 140 – Laredo
No. 143 – Amarillo
No. 150 – Brownsville
No. 154 – San Antonio
No. 155 – Corpus Christi

reports san antonio wallethub

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Jailed honor student case sparks outrage: Judge says he can't be "soft" afterlocking up working teen

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