Thursday, November 12, 2009

Why does the right of self-defense not apply in public school?

I%26#039;m writing this in response to the %26quot;zero tolerance%26quot; policies popping up that have any student defending themselves in a physical altercation to be suspended, expelled or even arrested. By what legal authority does a school have to cancel out the right of self-defense which are on the books in states and localities of the USA? The Supreme Court decision of Tinker Vs. Des Moines held that students do not necessarily shed their constitutional freedoms at the schoolyard gate.





Is there a court decision(s) or local/state/federal laws that cancel out a student%26#039;s right to self-defense?|||The criminal defense of %26quot;self-defense%26quot; would still apply in a criminal proceeding, but a school can determine policies at an administrative level that provide sanction and discipline at the school that have nothing to do with criminal defenses like %26quot;self-defense.%26quot;





Schools are not %26quot;corporations%26quot; and are governmental entities. They are, however, given wide latitude to determine their own rules and policies (as indciated by the Supreme Court even)...so defend yourself, but understand that the school is not going to do a trial of your case to determine who was right and who was wrong, they are going to remove anyone they fell does not comply with the policies, guidelines, rules that govern student conduct regardless of the right of self-defense that you can assert if/when you are criminally charged.|||because children%26#039;s rights are different from adults%26#039; rights.|||Students do not give up their constitutional rights when they enter school property. Someone has to challenge this premise so that a precident is set. Otherwise, things will get worse before they get better with all these draconian penalties.|||Unfortunately...most school districts are separate corporations and they have the right to implement any rule they wish.... because the school is not officially a governmental agency, they get away with the zero tolerance rule. It certainly has it%26#039;s flaws.|||I agree. This is so ridiculous.|||This is another fine example of how our school system is out of control. Child #1 is bullied on a daily basis. The school authorities do nothing about it. Child #2 can%26#039;t take it anymore and pops the bully in the chops. Both get suspended.





It gets worse. Boy child looks up girl child%26#039;s skirt and makes nasty comment. Girl child pushes boy child down. When girl child tells the teacher why she pushes boy child down it opens another file called inappropriate sexual behavior and now both boy child and girl child have an %26quot;inappropriate sexual behavior%26quot; strike in their records. Parents are not allowed to see these records.





Sadly, kids are no longer permitted to be kids. We live in a rotten society and our school system is a prime example of what the future holds for all.|||Look it up|||Not only can you not defend yourself, even if you just sit there and let yourself be attacked or even run to a teacher for help, you get suspended just for being the victim. Pretty messed up.|||Right of self defense DOES apply, even at school.





HOWEVER, then the school might expell you for fighting, and you and/or your parents could then sue them for several things including monetary damages AND the right to return to school.





(Did it successfully almost 45 years ago, after a fight got me expelled!!)|||I wasn%26#039;t aware of such a rule.





I%26#039;ve known cases when I worked in a school where students would get into fights which one instigated and the guy sticking up for himself wouldn%26#039;t be in any trouble whatsoever and the other was suspended and the police were involved.





The rules of a school are completely seperate from what applies in a legal setting. You%26#039;re allowed to go around making racist statements as it%26#039;s your 1st amendment right, but if you do it at work they can fire you no questions asked and be in the right doing so.

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