Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Don't you want to know what happened?

Big news story and you know there were consequences but the coverage never got back about what happened.

In the case of the young lady that had brought a car to school with a rifle in it, locked in the trunk, and having to be immediately suspended and face a trial by the school board ----

you do want to know what happened don't you?

Demarie DeRue

Those poor email boxes of the school board members, must have been full... seems the town came out to support her.

1 comment:

SPQR said...

Jeepers, look what happens when people use their marble boxes and exercise a little judicial discretion.

This law was a relic of the Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994, a poorly conceived and designed law all the states accepted that required a one-year expulsion for bringing a firearm to school. The ABA, ACLU, and NRA (what a triumvirate!) all levelled immediate criticism on it citing the lack of school officials to exercise discretion. Challenges on this law have always revolved around due process and the removal of discretionary authority. Some courts have upheld it (Fourth Circuit) and some have not allowed it to survive review (Sixth Circuit).

My source for this information Legal Rights of Teachers and Students (2nd Edition). A great book for anyone concerned about schools and very accessible despite its legal nature. It was co-written by one of my professors at Indiana University. The class, Law and Ethics in the Classroom, is surprisingly good.