not a threat, just a suggestion and a prayer

[acroyear]

May Clarence Thomas someday be pulled over by police and strip-searched for drugs.

For the other 8 justices who actually had a brain and realized children actually do have rights, THANK YOU!

Now, how about throwing out the rest of the zero-tolerance bullshit policies of the lazy-ass school system administrators while you're at it?

Comments

[fiona64.livejournal.com]

Sometimes, zero-tolerance is greatly abused.

This would be one of those times.

Google Shantale Taylor if you get a moment ... she's a local high school student here who was suspended for 5 days and denied the right to "walk" at her graduation because she helped break up a fight between a couple of other girls -- and the school board argued that it was part of their zero-tolerance policy to treat her as a mutual combatant.

You know, sort of like they do when the bullied student finally stands up for him- or herself?

Argh.

[fiona64.livejournal.com]

Should add this: Taylor was the first member of her family to graduate high school *ever.* She'd been in foster care since age 2, and her foster family mentored her to success so that she could graduate.

She got her diploma in the mail and all ... and the publicity around here provoked a number of corporations to put up some college money for her.

In the end, though, she was punished for doing the right thing because of a "one size fits all" rule that just didn't.

It's obvious in the case you cited that someone was mad at this little girl and "narked" on her, as we used to say. It reminds me of how Iraqis would tattle on people they were mad at so that their homes would be destroyed; my friend E's translator's house was torn up, while he was shouting in English to the American soldiers and showing them his Green Zone ID, that he was not the person he wanted.

The soldiers, of course, found nothing ... and left E's translator's home with no front and back doors, the armoires where the family clothing was stored destroyed, and so on. Because the translator's brother-in-law was mad at him. I kid you not.

Same thing exactly.

[acroyear70.livejournal.com]

actually the Iraq and Afghan situation is worse: there are people in Gitmo today that are only there because a political/tribal rival (in come cases, families that had disagreements going back to the Sunni-Shiite split, even if they're actually of the same sect) narqed on them for the reward money.

[acroyear70.livejournal.com]

oh i know all about the one-sided view of "fighting" (everybody is guilty, including the one assaulted). In 6th grade, I got "licks" (our euphemism for corporal punishment) just for one shove of trying to get the bully off of me after having taken 5 hits. the teacher just happened to have walked around the corner and seen it right when i shoved, but missed all of what happened before that.

she says "fighting", dean gives us licks, absolutely no desire to actually determine the truth of anything.

and this was 28 years ago. it's worse now, I've seen.

[eiredrake.livejournal.com]

I was never beaten for fighting. I was beaten* for being there.


* Actually the nun grabbed the hood of my jacket at yanked me back out of line when I was actually standing at attention and being good. The kid in front of me was talking to the kid in front of him. As a consequence the zipper on my jacket cut me and I went home bleeding.

And then my grandmother went to school and tore Sister Mary PsychoticBitch and Mother More Superior Than Thou each a new asshole. Ya din' fuck with my Nanny.

"Reasonable Cause" A La Clarence Thomas:

[jocelyncs.livejournal.com]

1) Random tip that Citizen has illegal item. Reasonable cause to search Citizen's house.

2) No item in house is reasonable cause to conclude Citizen has item in his car. Search the car.

3) No item in car is reasonable cause to conclude Citizen has item on his person. Search Citizen's person.

4) No item on person is reasonable cause to conclude Citizen has item in his body cavities. Search body cavities.

5) No item in body cavities is reasonable cause to conclude Citizen has swallowed item. Pump Citizen's stomach.

Because the failure to find the item is more cause to believe Citizen has it than that Citizen DOESN'T have it!

Re: "Reasonable Cause" A La Clarence Thomas:

[eiredrake.livejournal.com]

You forgot:

6) No item in citizen's stomach is reasonable cause to conclude that he gave it to someone else. Detain that citizen as well.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

[tomble.livejournal.com]

What they need to do in cases like this is grind the accused into a fine paste, then test that paste for drug residue. No residue, charges dropped.

A tip off = cause to search a bag, cause to search a bag = cause enough to do a body search? I bet anyone supporting this would change their tune once the investigating party started lubing up the rubber glove.

Wow 8-1?

[eiredrake.livejournal.com]

I was fully expecting that to go the other way. Is Scalia not on the court anymore? Was he replaced with Folgers Crystals? (they would probably make a better justice than he would).

Zero Tolerance Policies

[eiredrake.livejournal.com]

Are in some sort of feedback loop situation with Columbine style school incidents. Now Harris and Klebold were sociopaths to start with so I'm not trying to excuse them.

But telling a kid they're not allowed to fight back when someone hits or bully's them isn't going to stop school violence it's going to make things worse. The good kid will be afraid of getting in trouble and the bad kid who already doesn't give a shit now has YET ANOTHER weapon to use to bully the good kid.

When this sort of thing comes up with my child, I hope she takes a chair and breaks someone's nose. Doing that once is generally all it takes and I will not reprimand her for defending herself or another. It is utterly ridiculous and repugnant to DEMAND that children grow up as victims and that is all Zero Tolerance Policies do. They don't stop kids who are already determined to break the law. All they do is make good kids suffer.