There is an interesting case out of Louisiana where Belina Fondren, 52, has been criminally charged for writing high school students fake doctor’s notes to get them out of school for $20 each. Two students alone purchased 14 such notes to use at Evans High School.
Police say that Fondren’s side business was well-known among students at Evans High. It is a sign of the declining competitiveness of our rising generation. There was a time that no self-respecting truant would buy a forged note. Thousands of children learned cursive writing in forging the signature of their parents on such notes.
WVUE reported that a doctor was finally called by the Vernon Parish School Board about the plethora of notes and said that he had never seen the students.
Fondren was charged filing or maintaining false public records. It is a curious type of crime to fit into the criminal code. My question is whether, if she only worked with private school students, if she could have evaded such a charge. There is also the possibility of charging her with the unlicensed practice of medicine. It is possible that staff members are allowed to write these notes on behalf of the doctors. Thus, there might not be a perjury or forgery charge. There is fraud or misappropriation theories (based on her effectively stealing the authority or resources of the medical practice).
Finally, if Fondren is guilty of filing or maintaining false public records, wouldn’t the students also be guilty of the same crime?
Here is the provision under Louisiana law:
A. Filing false public records is the filing or depositing for record in any public office or with any public official, or the maintaining as required by law, regulation, or rule, with knowledge of its falsity, of any of the following:
(1) Any forged document.
(2) Any wrongfully altered document.
(3) Any document containing a false statement or false representation of a material fact.