For
Immediate Release: April
11, 2012
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Zero
Tolerance Victory: Md. Board of Ed. Reverses Suspension of
H.S. Lacrosse Players for Possession of Deadly Weapons
(Penknife, Lighter)
EASTON,
Md. — The Maryland State Board of Education has reversed the
suspensions of two Easton High School lacrosse players for
possession of “deadly weapons,” namely a penknife and lighter
found in their lacrosse bags. Although it was understood that
the penknife and lighter were tools used by the boys to
maintain their lacrosse equipment, the police were called and
one player was actually handcuffed, fingerprinted and charged
with possession of a deadly weapon. In reversing the
suspensions, the Maryland State Board of Education noted that
the students had voluntarily told officials they possessed the
items, that use of the tools to maintain lacrosse equipment
had been tacitly approved by coaches, and that it was the
actions of school officials themselves that had caused any
“disruption” to the educational process. Ordering that the
students’ academic records be completely expunged of the
incident, the State Board explained, “This case is about
context and the appropriate exercise of discretion, in full
consideration of all the facts involved in the case, including
whether to suspend and whether to call the police.”
“This
is a huge victory for students everywhere,” said John W.
Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. “It’s a
victory of reason and fairness over the kind of hysterical,
irrational exercise of authority that teaches children to fear
those in power.”
According
to Laura Dennis, the mother of one of the suspended boys,
school officials reported receiving an anonymous tip that
there may have been alcohol on the lacrosse team's bus on
April 13, 2011, when the team was headed to an away game.
Based on this so-called “tip,” school officials boarded the
bus, told the players to identify their bags, and removed the
players from the bus while they searched the bags. During the
search, officials discovered a lighter in Casey Edsall’s bag
and a number of small tools, including scissors, a penknife, a
screwdriver and pliers, in Graham Dennis's bag. School
officials reacted by calling law enforcement officers to the
scene. Dennis—whose bag contained the scissors, penknife,
screwdriver and pliers—was handcuffed, fingerprinted and
charged as a juvenile in possession of a deadly weapon. School
officials ultimately suspended both boys from school: Edsall
for one day and Dennis for ten days.
Coming
to the students' defense, attorneys for The Rutherford
Institute argued that the suspensions violated fundamental
principles of due process of law because the lighter and
penknife were not clearly prohibited under the school's
policies. Moreover, neither item could reasonably be
considered a “dangerous weapon,” Institute attorneys insisted,
because the only applicable definitions of “dangerous weapons”
make no mention of lighters and specifically exclude small
penknives such as the one Dennis used to maintain his lacrosse
equipment. Despite an outpouring of public support for the
players, the Talbot County Board of Education subsequently
elected not to reverse the suspensions and expunge the
players' academic records. Upon appeal to the Maryland State
Board of Education, Institute attorneys pointed out—and the
State Board of Education agreed—that Talbot County’s policies
authorize suspension only as a “last resort” for repeated
disciplinary infractions or where a student’s presence is a
danger to the school community. The suspension of Edsall and
Dennis was therefore “illegal,” as it was in direct conflict
with those provisions. Affiliate attorney John W. Garza acted
on behalf of The Rutherford Institute in its defense of Dennis
and Edsall.
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