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| Judge: School Officials Abused Discretion in Zero Tolerance Case |
| 2004-06-18 |
| EFL - hattip top Zero Intelligence In 2002, thirteen-year-old Mitch Muller, then a seventh-grader at North Valley Middle School, was expelled for possession of what the school called a "firearm facsimile." The school officials imposed this penalty because of the state’s zero tolerance policy, which bars any firearm or "firearm facsimile that could reasonably be mistaken for an actual firearm" on school grounds. However, Weld District Court Judge Julie Hoskins decided that officials at North Valley Middle School had abused their discretion by labeling the miniscule laser pointer as a firearm facsimile. The judge ruled that a 2 and 1/2-inch toy gun that can be hidden in the palm of one’s hand could not reasonably be mistaken for an actual gun. Muller’s attorney, John Whitehead of the Rutherford Institute, says the Hoskins’ ruling is "cause for jubilation" because zero-tolerance cases are very difficult to win. "Finally," he says, "we have a judge who has looked at ... this really crazy area of zero tolerance, where kids are thrown out of school for having Alka-Seltzer or Midol, or a squirt gun -- expelled from school for a year for a squirt gun -- and said, ’Listen, this is really silly. You’ve abused your discretion here. This boy should never have been expelled from school for having a laser pointer.’" Public schools have been enforcing zero-tolerance policies since the mid-1990’s and according to Whitehead, since the Columbine massacre, they have gotten worse. He hopes the ruling in the Greeley case will send a message to school officials that "compassion and common sense need to be restored to the classroom." The Rutherford Institute spokesman says his legal group is working toward getting Muller’s records "cleaned up" so he and his family can move on. "This is a good kid who just simply happened to pick up another school friend’s laser and point it, and the red dot hit the blackboard," he says. "These are the kinds of things that, when I was a kid, happened on a regular basis," Whitehead adds, "and teachers usually didn’t care. But today it’s met with expulsion." Judge Hoskins has in fact ordered the school district to remove Mitch Muller’s expulsion from his records. However, according to the Greeley Tribune newspaper, Superintendent Jo Barbie says the district is talking with lawyers about the possibilities of an appeal, although no decision has been made as yet. The school district is concerned that they might not look silly enough yet so an appeal may be required. Afterall it’s taxpayer money they plan to spend on the appeal. |
| Posted by:Super Hose |
| #6 Would there even be a 'zero' tolerence program if we could all be reasonable? However, the first reaction of many parents, no matter what the behavior of their offspring may be, is to threaten to sue the school system. So in defense, the administrators hid behind a simple 'zero' no wiggle room dictate. However, that too has its pitfalls as herein demonstated. |
| Posted by: Don 2004-06-18 11:48:14 PM |
| #5 "[D]on't public education officials have enough problems..." It's the Standard Bureaucratic Response™: When you don't want to do the work that you're supposed to do, make a big noise doing something else-- and hope nobody notices. Nothing new here. |
| Posted by: Old Grouch 2004-06-18 2:56:53 PM |
| #4 Just wondering, don't public education officials have enough problems with the fact that they're proven failures? Isn't it a well-known, hell - world renowned, fact that US schoolchildren are poorly educated and falling behind? I believe that would indicate failure. I suggest that they stop making policy and playing lawyer long enough to correct some of the flaws in our public education system. First they could cut Admin by half (the top half) and use that money to lure better qualified and motivated people to become teachers. Second, most school boards should have a Jonestown-styled Kool-Aid party. I think these two actions would be a fair start. Then we can see if there is any reason to believe the LLL lunacy can be moderated without the wholesale 're-education*' of the agencies, institutes, think-tanks, universities, and theorists who direct the education material publishers to revise everything that doesn't suit their lunatic hate-America agenda. IMHO, this is easily the most dangerous and egregious misuse of power and usurption of rights (to the simple unadorned / unmodified truth) in America today. Faith-based groups infringing upon the Constitution? Pfeh. Patriot Act undermining rights? Bullshit. This is it: our future. Even the Wahhabists get it - this is literally the most important aspect of any society - those who prevail and wield power in Education today, determine who rules, and how, tomorrow. * Define 're-educate' any way you like. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-06-18 1:29:01 PM |
| #3 and get expelled for it bomb.. hell my school tried to have me expelled because I had the ability to send e-mail (they made it difficult to achieve, but I never signed no paper saying 'I will not send e-mail while at school') public school is worthless |
| Posted by: dcreeper 2004-06-18 12:44:26 PM |
| #2 True stories from the Heartland- little Clinton Iowa. About 4 years ago we had a kindergartener given a 3 day suspension for packing a clear red plastic water pistol. Two years ago, my 2nd grade son was denied showing a magazine in class because it had a picture of a gun on the cover. I won't put it past the PC crowd to outlaw the letters g,u and n, because of what they can be used to spell. |
| Posted by: Craig 2004-06-18 12:11:32 PM |
| #1 Just to tweak school officials, this kid should carry around the school grounds a photograph of a pistol. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-06-18 10:58:38 AM |