We have been discussing the trend toward suspending and expelling students (and teachers) for comments that they make on social media (here and here and here and here and here and here and here). Teachers and administrators have been criminalizing juvenile conduct rather than dealing with such issues with the students and their teachers. Now the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit has issued an opinion upholding one of the most ridiculous examples of the criminalization of our schools. The Tenth Circuit said that Albuquerque school officials and police were justified in ordering the arrest of 13-year-old boy who was burping in class. The Tenth Circuit ruled that the school officials and police officer were entitled to immunity for their excessive response to what was at worst a class clown.
The Tenth Circuit simply held that a New Mexico law prohibits anyone from interfering with the education process — an interpretation that would seem to allow any school prank or immature act from being charged as a crime.
In this case, you had a class clown in the seventh grade at Albuquerque’s Cleveland Middle School. The teacher, Margaret Mines-Hornbeck, reported to officer Arthur Acosta that the boy was disrupting the class by continually burping in class. The boy was taken to an administrative office. In addition to the burping incident, the child was also searched for possible drugs. The assistant principal suspected the teen of involvement in a marijuana transaction and told him to remove his shoes and jeans, and flip the waistband of a pair of shorts he was wearing under his jeans. No drugs were found.
The son was then suspended for the remainder of the year which seems an absurd response in itself to such a juvenile act. Then, however, they proceeded to charge him criminally.
The provision itself is breathtakingly vague and could cover virtually any childish act. Subsection (D):
“No person shall willfully interfere with the educational process of any public or private school by committing, threatening to commit or inciting others to commit any act which would disrupt, impair, interfere with or obstruct the lawful mission, processes, procedures or functions of a public or private school.”
N.M. Stat. Ann. § 30-20-13(D). The Tenth Circuit readily embraced the virtually limitless scope of this crime:
We believe the text of N.M. Stat. Ann. § 30-20-13(D) manifests the New Mexico legislature’s intent to prohibit a wide swath of conduct that interferes with the educational process. The statute renders unlawful, inter alia, the commission of “any act which would . . . interfere with” or “disrupt” school functioning and, thereby, “interfere with the educational process.” N.M. Stat. Ann. § 30-20-13(D) (emphasis added). The common meaning of the word “any” is, inter alia, “one no matter what one” and “some no matter how great or small”). . . .
The ordinary meaning of these statutory terms would seemingly encompass
F.M.’s conduct because F.M.’s burping, laughing, and leaning into the classroom stopped the flow of student educational activities, thereby injecting disorder into the learning environment, which worked at cross-purposes with Ms. Mines- Hornbeck’s planned teaching tasks. More to the point, we cannot conclude that the plain terms of subsection (D) would have given a reasonable law-enforcement officer in Officer Acosta’s shoes fair warning that if he arrested F.M. for engaging in his classroom misconduct he (i.e., the officer) would be violating F.M.’s Fourth Amendment right to be free from an arrest lacking in probable cause.
What do you think?
Here is the decision: Tenth Circuit Opinion
Government bureaucracies and legislatures actually perform best with LESS money. When government officials have too much taxpayer money – they mission-creep – they manufacture wrongdoing, criminality and enemies to justify having such an excessive budget.
Best way to fix this problem is cut the budgets of those agencies so they are forced to focus on more legitimate missions.
@jayS
re: “One major difference, then to now, is that parents invariably sided with the teachers, not the kids.”
spot-on observation IMO – some of my friends teach at schools where the population is made up of folks on the lower end of the economic/formal education spectrum. The stories they tell me are unbelievable. When they call a parent to talk about little Johnnie cheating/bullying/acting out fill in the blanks the FIRST thing the parents say is “you got proof of that?” or “why you wanna pick on my little man?”
And this is not confined to that SES group – friends who teach in the magnet schools don’t have it easy either – the hyper vigilant helicopter parents excuse their kids when they are caught cheating.
Lack of accountability is unfortunately interwoven throughout our society! From cops to schools to politicians like HRC.
Well, if nothing else, he has a twitter handle now.
Notice:
Do not release digestive gases through the anus until departing the classroom whether mistakenly or intentionally. You will be arrested, suspended, and required to retake the grade level you’re now attending.
Here in California, the state is releasing prisoners early because of overcrowding and well, the punishments for those crimes are just way too punitive. But, we are now going to criminalize burping among middle schoolers? Our society is insane.
“they proceeded to charge him criminally” – What exactly was he charged with?
Renegade, Welcome back. Good to see your mug and comments.
Times are clearly different than when I grew up (55 years ago). If some kid got too wise or caused too much trouble, one of the PE teachers would bounce him (never a her) off the wall a few times, and that would generally solve the problem. A few incorrigible types would make it through school, but then end up in jail.
One major difference, then to now, is that parents invariably sided with the teachers, not the kids.
(and I’m a liberal on most issues )
There are pertinent facts missing here. Were there previous warnings? Was the kid deliberately swallowing air and belching…done right and it is very loud and can even be “tuned,” how many times, what size was the 13 yr old boy…makes a difference if one confronts the kid. Why would I, even at 6’1″, want to take a chance on having my career, family and all thrown into the law-suit happy and civil rights hopper?
I remember the paddle being used, even seen it in high school …one good swat on the butt of an a__h__e spoke to a whole range of kids. (Was there a pun in there somewhere?)
To bettykath – How do you “fake burp”? I need some instruction.
Burp…..State of Washington, Marysville school massacre by a 15 year old boy.
Jaylen Fryberg’s Dad is Guilty of Buying Gun Used in Marysville School Massacre
A teenage gunman’s father was convicted of buying the gun the boy used to kill four classmates and himself at Marysville-Pilchuk High School in Washington state.
Raymond Lee Fryberg Jr., 42, was convicted in U.S. District Court in Seattle of all six counts of illegally possessing firearms in violation of a domestic violence protection order.
Fryberg’s 15-year-old son, Jaylen, used one of the guns, a Beretta PX4 Storm pistol, to shoot and kill four friends and himself Oct. 24, 2014 in High school cafeteria.
Raymond Fryberg didn’t testify, and his lawyers called no witnesses. They told jurors that Fryberg was never served the protection order and didn’t know he couldn’t have firearms.
Many thoughts, along different paths come to mind.
First, the “reasonable relation to a rationale goal” analysis allows for what the 10th Circuit ruled.
Second, minors don’t get all the rights that those over 18 get, so they don’t have all the “rights” that some might otherwise attribute to them.
Third, AND MOST IMPORTANT (as it is a societal (humanity) comment, as opposed to a legal comment): Most people are not decision makers, in fact, most try to avoid making a decision. In this case, an artful teacher or administrator at the school, could have outsmarted this kid, and maybe turned him in the right direction. In this case, they moved the decision down the line until it got to the legal authorities, who almost always resort to arrest. What is the lesson that was taught? Both to the kid, the parents, the other kids, the school administrators and teachers? So many bad lessons and hardly any good lessons taught – beyond the short term. Opps, who looks beyond the short term?
As a former teacher of at-risk youth, I think this problem should have been handled in the classroom. However, the search was unnecessary. The arrest and conviction are iffy. It is a law that is rarely used, but I have threatened an irate parent with the law. BTW, it did calm him down.
Personally, I would never charge a student with this law. I think that generally you need to handle everything in your classroom.
Many parents don’t instill basic manners and respect in children. Too many teachers are inept in handling unruly students. When a poorly raised child meets an inept teacher this happens. I taught middle school and high school. I had few discipline problems because I know how to handle these type kids. I would bet he doesn’t have a father in the home. That is the root of many behavioral problems in schools. More so w/ boys but girls w/o a father also are missing that stability as well.
There were two separate instances. In the first, the student was fake burping which led to other students laughing. The student should have been removed to another room, not arrested. The second instance was of five students being questioned and searched for a suspected drug transaction. No drugs were found on any of the five students including the “burper”. He was wearing several layers of clothing and his strip search left him wearing a pair of shorts and boxers. He was suspended for “gang related activity” by having a bandana and a belt buckle with a marijuana leaf on it. Again, no cause for arrest, but confiscation of the materials and in school suspension would have been appropriate. He also had $200 on him. His mother said she gave it to him that morning. What the heck is a 13 year old doing with that much money? I suspect the boy isn’t doing well in school and acting out is his way of dealing with his failure. Or he’s just plain bored with it. He certainly needs help in learning how to behave within the box of acceptable behavior.
So for an unruly class clown you can’t physically restrain him, can threaten him, can’t demean or mock him, can’t grab him and drag him to school detention, can’t control him, can’t give him poor grades but you expect teachers and overpaid administrators to have the wherewithal to handle these situations?
It was parents who developed these hands off approaches that demand ‘special treatment for MY kid’! Parents get into fights when the kid isn’t on the field of play the entire game or is not given a participation award. Parents scream and get angry when little Johnny comes home with a ‘B’ grade instead of an ‘A’. What about college! they yell.
This blog finds the teachers, administrators, police, and Dept. of Education to be the culprits, but not one has taken responsibility for what they have created and neglected. The only answer is to educate your children at home, but then who would you blame for your out of control, failing and flailing children?
You either have no children or you have no clue.
It goes without saying the child should have been put up against a wall, offered a blind fold and summarily shot by his classmates under strict orders from the police chief and following rigorous military protocol for such flagrant incitement to olfactory lawlessness. America is Great! And don’t miss the public stoning next week!
On the bright side; no one can legitimately hate us for our freedom anymore.
Anyone that would defend criminalizing of juvenile behavior probably hasn’t an child in school or a boy.
This is a national trend. I removed my 11 year old from school because I saw something like this coming. He is will be home schooled this fall.
My son is very smart and got very bored in what is believed to be the best school district in our state. He would make smart mouthed comments that were deemed offensive. He was called sexist, racist and intolerant. His words could have been perceived thusly. When those statements were repeated to his father and me we were baffled by the mentality of the teachers and the staff. To interpret such things in the manner that they did made them the sexist, racist and intolerant. All was a matter of their perceptions and how they “felt” about things.
I was confronted by a police officer assigned to the elementary school.about my son’s verbalization and was told he could arrested. After contacting my attorney and verifying that this could lead to a criminal juvenile record, we removed him within the week.
No, we don’t know what happened specifically in class. Yet on meeting his teacher at the first of the year, I had my concerns. Let’s just say that I found his teacher to be idiotic and arduous from day one. i never expressed my sentiments about his man to my son.
His father and I were called to meetings on regular occasions to have meetings with a panel of so called experts. He had batteries of tests and the only thing that the test showed was that he had a very high IQ and was completely capable of behaving in school. There was no autism, do ADHD or any other label. Therefore the could not push for pharmaceuticals.
The school offered no sound education. I am having to “reprogram” him because he puts merit on feelings about assignments instead of logic.
Adults can be fallacious. The interpretation of such criminal actions are subjective, as is the law regarding such infractions.
There is a void of logic and reason in public schools. It creates hardships on the parents, community and children. This case proves it. I scarcely believe that this poor boy burped more than a couple of times in class. It was probably disruptive, but with teachers these days, I’m sure his criminal actions were inflated to rid the teacher of this child’s presence. I’m sure it was nothing more.
These “educators” and “administrators” have iron clad job security off forced taxation. The hold the future of these kids in their hands. They can dismiss children or even have them arrested at a whim. It’s a pretty good gig if you can get it.
Reblogged this on Truth Troubles: Why people hate the truths' of the real world.