A recent story caught my eye out of Suffolk, Virginia. A bus driver was shocked when a mother allegedly mooned the bus after a confrontation last November with roughly 45 students onboard. The mother, Lisa Grant, 34, admits that she was upset that the driver sent a note home with her middle school son for misbehaving. She apparently thought yelling at the bus would be an appropriate response to the claim of misconduct. However, the videotape below shows the bus driver as equally irritated and loud in the confrontation and there remains a controversy over whether a true moon appeared along the roadside.
First, it is clear that what Grant did was wildly inappropriate and bizarre. It also undermined her own son since most people would conclude that he is coming from a troubled household by the conduct of his mother. It was also damaging not just to the children on the bus but her own son who will have to face these kids in the schoolyard with a mother behaving in this manner. Grant insists that she only gestured and told the driver to “kiss my XXX.” However, the confrontation was still unnecessary and obnoxious.
However, Grant was given a six-month jail sentence with five months suspended. She will serve that time on weekends. She also must pay a $250 fine. What is curious is that she insists that she kept her underwear on during the gesture. It is obscene if someone pulls down only her jeans or outer garments? I thought a certifiable “moon” required full exposure. After all, she could lawfully have worn a bikini or bathing suit with the same exposure. That would make the gesture akin to showing the middle finger. If she was not exposed, is this indecent in your view or is this a type of half moon or waning (or whining) crescent moon?
The charge was disorderly conduct as opposed to indecent exposure, but the video below shows the bus driver making as much if not more of the commotion after being confronted by Grant, even telling her to come see her after hours in the neighborhood. I fail to see the basis for a criminal charge in the confrontation but the judge found her guilty.
From what you can see, do you agree with the use of criminal charges in this matter?
Get a jury trial and have a class of kids show up with tee shirts on with a full moon on the front of the tee shirts. The back side could have another moon shot. The kids should get up and turn their backs so the jury can see both sides of the tee shirts. This is called petitioning your government for redress of grievances and is protected speech and conduct under the First Amendment.
I like that. Have as many as you can get get a T shirt like that and do that to the bus driver so the jailing system goes tilt not being able to even think about arresting anyone.
artiewhitefox 1, May 28, 2013 at 6:53 pm
Poor school bus driver he – she must have been hurt by the sight of what is on their own body. The excuse to jail is used whenever they what revenge. When will people see that arresting is a religious thing to do? Don’t people know that religious people thought that arresting Jesus solved a problem they thought existed?
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They don’t want revenge. They want the situation that they want.
The Jews voted to have Jesus crucified. The Romans obliged.
Poor school bus driver he – she must have been hurt by the sight of what is on their own body. The excuse to jail is used whenever they what revenge. When will people see that arresting is a religious thing to do? Don’t people know that religious people thought that arresting Jesus solved a problem they thought existed?
davidm2575, Yes I did catch your subtle double meaning. COOL!
My assertion is that the “Legal System” is not being bought and then benefiting/harming people.(exception being when legal PEOPLE have molded the system thusly to their own benefit)
It is the “insatiably rotten lawyers and judges” that is what, money can and does buy.
“BTW this woman is paying the self-important bus driver’s salary.”
I doubt it.
Gestapo justice system in action. The bus driver discounted the woman and slammed the door in her face. BTW this woman is paying the self-important bus driver’s salary.
Davidm2575 “the best legal system money can buy”??? Do you recall the well known “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people”(and often without a tool)…..Can we make that statement truthful by saying “the rottenest Lawyers
milking everyone going thru their self serving system and grinding them all into shameless paydays”?
Darrel, I hope you understood my tongue-in-cheek pun by saying “the best legal system money can buy.” It looks like you skipped the context of my post and grabbed onto my last sentence, missing the joke. The system benefits those who are best able to buy their way through it. Think about it. The best legal system that money can buy.
Can anyone see a correlation between moms actions and her child’s behavior?
Anonymously Yours –
Yes! I see what you are getting at.
When my youngest daughter was in elementary school, she got suspended off her bus because unknown to me, she brought a marshmallow shooter onto the bus and some of her friends used it to fire marshmallows on the bus! When I learned of the suspension, I was furious at my daughter because I thought I had raised her better than that. She was suspended from the bus for one week, so the first day she was allowed back, I insisted that as she got on the bus, she stop and apologize to the bus driver, acknowledging how wrong she was and how right he was, and that she would never endanger the operation of the bus in that manner again. To make sure that went right, I followed her onto the bus after she had a chance to speak. The bus driver opened the door to allow me on the bus rather than slamming it in my face like the bus driver in this case, and I gave my own apology to the bus driver for what my child did, thanked him for doing such a good job, expressed my appreciation for his services, and then departed.
I see a heated “discussion” that was going no where but no criminal activity.
Moms are passionate about their kids.
There will be no appeal b/c the mom takes responsibility for her actions and the judgement. Too bad.
BettyKath – I have seen this kind of thing so many times where the public defender advises the defendant to plead no contest (is that what happened here?) and the person regrets getting upset and sort of just trusts the legal system to deal with her appropriately. The mom’s thinking that the bus driver deserves the same punishment she is getting shows that she did not really understand what the legal system was doing when she made her plea.
Unfortunately, I feel compelled to advise most people that I work with in problems with the law to please not plead guilty or no contest just because the public defender tells you this is the best for you. It saddens me that our legal system has evolved into this. Citizens should be able to trust the legal system to produce justice and fairness, but it rarely does unless a person recognizes that he must defend himself not only against the party bringing the complaint, but they must defend themselves against the legal system itself. A good lawyer who actually cares for and understands the economic class of the client he represents is indispensable in this legal system we have, which is the best legal system that money can buy.
I have reviewed Virginia’s criminal code and observed the following:
§ 18.2-415. Disorderly conduct in public places
“A person is guilty of disorderly conduct if, with the intent to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or recklessly creating a risk thereof, he:
..C. Willfully or while intoxicated, whether willfully or not, and whether such intoxication results from self-administered alcohol or other drug of whatever nature, disrupts the operation of any school or any activity conducted or sponsored by any school, if the disruption (i) prevents or interferes with the orderly conduct of the operation or activity “
I believe the statute defines disorderly conduct in such a manner the interference with the loading of the students or schedule of a school bus might be considered a violation of the law. However, I have to agree with the defendant the bus driver was engaging in the same arguments. I don’t see this as interfering with the schedule of the bus when the driver clearly reciprocated the taunting which would have given the defendant the impression she was free to engage in the argument. If the bus driver told her to go away and the woman continued to argue and perhaps walked in front of the bus to prevent its departure, I might agree this event constituted a violation of the law.
From what I have seen, I don’t agree this was illegal and I would expect the matter to be overturned on appeal.
In Saint Louis she would have flipped him the Herbie and gotten away with it.
Full Moon Nellie Defense. There is orderly conduct and disorderly conduct. On a full moon it is perfectly orderly to celebrate the full moon. Show me the date of the offense and I will look at my calendar. This defense is good in all the lower 48 but not Alaska or Hawaii. In Alaska because it is sometimes always daylight and in Hawaii because of Hawaiin Eye or however one spulls it.
An incident like this would not result in a 6 month[1 month served] w/o a prior, possibly extensive prior record. I would make a comment that she doesn’t appear to be Mother of the Year but I have been chastened by those here who are more “intelligent” “caring” and enlightened. I will put aside my decades of experience in dealing w/ people and make no judgments about this wonderful mother. There were racial overtones w/o a doubt. Please don’t deny that.
I see no crime here. Is passion in speech a crime?
“I thought a certifiable “moon” required full exposure.”
This test of a full, half, or quarter moon is how much the pornocopia business will pay for it.
It was inappropriate, but inappropriate behavior does not a criminal charge make unless some harm is done. One might argue that she was expressing her First Amendment rights.
Well, I do believe that was most inappropriate. However, I believe it happens occasionally.
Don’t make the mommy mad on the school bus. The school bus driver doesn’t know what to do.
The little children are thinking, what? I guess it’s educational.
Kids learn well…. Teach your children well….. I see a bad moon arising….
But, other than Juvenile behavior on the part of the adult…. You can see more crack on most campuses…. The sentence is insane…. she must have plead on bad advice of her attorney…..but this is Virginia…..so maybe she could have gotten longer….
I totally side with the mom because no middle school boy has ever misbehaved on a bus in the history of mankind so it must be a malicious plot to damage the poor kids mental well-being.
Even if the mom is in the right what on earth did she expect to accomplish? An infantile reaction to what was probably a pretty mundane event. It sad people like this can become parents
Two ladies trying to outshout one another, no charges needed…meet after hours.