Zero tolerance now means zero common sense.

View this email in your browser ([link removed])
[link removed]



** For Immediate Release: September 23, 2022
------------------------------------------------------------


** Zero Tolerance = Zero Common Sense: Sixth Grader Reported to Police for Flashing Toy Gun During Zoom Halloween Game
------------------------------------------------------------

MATTHEWS, NC — Warning that misguided school zero-tolerance policies can have disastrous ramifications for students’ future academic prospects ([link removed]) , The Rutherford Institute has come to the defense of a North Carolina student who was denied admission to a charter school based on an improper and unlawful suspension in his records arising from an incident two years earlier.

The incident arose in 2020 after the sixth grader was suspended from school and reported to police for possessing a look-alike weapon and making a threat after he briefly displayed a toy gun during a virtual Zoom class as part of a Halloween game when instructed by his teacher to look “scary.” Although school officials subsequently agreed to remove the unlawful suspension from the student’s record, they shared details of the incident two years later with a charter school to which the child was admitted. In once again coming to the student’s defense, Rutherford Institute attorneys warned ([link removed]) that negligently distributing false information which causes harm to a student’s standing and reputation could constitute defamation.

“Young people are now first in line to be searched, surveilled, spied on, threatened, tied up, locked down, tasered, and treated like criminals for non-criminal behavior,” said constitutional attorney John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute and author of Battlefield America: The War on the American People ([link removed]) . “Clearly, the pathology that characterizes the American police state has passed down to the schools.”
MAKE THE GOVERNMENT PLAY BY THE RULES OF THE CONSTITUTION: SUPPORT THE FIGHT FOR FREEDOM ([link removed])

As part of their COVID-19 protocols in recent years, many schools around the country held virtual classes using the Zoom meeting application. For at least part of their schooling, students remained at home and received instruction and participated in classes through a webcam-enabled computer where they see and are seen by their teacher and classmates. On October 27, 2020, a sixth grader at a North Carolina school was participating from home in a Chinese class via Zoom when the teacher asked students to make a scary face as part of a “Trick or Treat” Halloween activity. When this particular sixth grader’s turn came, he wordlessly pointed a broken toy gun at the computer screen as his scary gesture. It was the only time the toy appeared during the class. Afterwards, the teacher reported the incident to the school’s principal. School officials subsequently suspended the boy until November 2 for violating school policies banning look-alike weapons and threatening another student. The incident
was also reported to the police, who visited the child’s home to conduct a “safety visit.”

In its November 2020 letter demanding that the suspension be removed ([link removed]) from the child’s record, Rutherford Institute attorneys pointed out that state law forbids application of school disciplinary policies to off-campus conduct unless the conduct has a direct impact on the safety of individuals in the school. Although school officials promptly agreed to remove the incident from the student’s discipline records, the school then shared a copy of its suspension letter to the student’s parents two years later with a charter school, to which the student had applied and been admitted. Upon learning of the suspension, the charter school withdrew its acceptance offer and denied the student admission. Rutherford Institute attorneys warned ([link removed]) the school that retaining and disclosing inaccurate and misleading documents in a student’s education
record could be a violation of the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

In the wake of a growing number of incidents in which students have been suspended and reported to police by school officials for having toy guns nearby (at home) while taking part in virtual schooling, The Rutherford Institute has also made available to parents a precautionary “opt out” letter ([link removed]) as a means by which families whose children are taking part in remote learning / virtual classes might assert their Fourth Amendment privacy rights and guard against intrusive government surveillance posed by remote learning technologies.

The Rutherford Institute’s letters to the school are available at www.rutherford.org ([link removed]) .

The Rutherford Institute ([link removed]) , a nonprofit civil liberties organization, provides legal assistance at no charge to individuals whose constitutional rights have been threatened or violated and educates the public on a wide spectrum of issues affecting their freedoms.

Source: [link removed]
[link removed] Share ([link removed])
[link removed]: https%3A%2F%2Fmailchi.mp%2Frutherford%2Fsixth-grader-reported-to-police-for-displaying-toy-gun-on-zoom-as-part-of-halloween-game-to-look-scary Tweet ([link removed]: https%3A%2F%2Fmailchi.mp%2Frutherford%2Fsixth-grader-reported-to-police-for-displaying-toy-gun-on-zoom-as-part-of-halloween-game-to-look-scary)
[link removed] Forward ([link removed])
CLICK HERE TO MAKE A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION ([link removed])

To donate via PayPal, please click below:
[link removed]

============================================================
** Follow us on Facebook ([link removed])
** Follow us on Facebook ([link removed])
** Follow us on Twitter ([link removed])
** Follow us on Twitter ([link removed])
** YouTube ([link removed])
** YouTube ([link removed])
CONTACT INFORMATION
Nisha Whitehead
(434) 978-3888 ext. 604
** [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])

THE RUTHERFORD INSTITUTE
Post Office Box 7482
Charlottesville, VA 22906-7482
Phone: (434) 978-3888
** www.rutherford.org ([link removed])

Copyright © 2022 The Rutherford Institute, All rights reserved.

You are receiving this email because of your interest in the work of The Rutherford Institute. Founded in 1982 by constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead, The Rutherford Institute is a civil liberties organization that provides free legal services to people whose constitutional and human rights have been threatened or violated. To discontinue your membership electronically, or if you feel you are receiving this message in error, please follow the link below.

Under the regulations of the United States Internal Revenue Service, The Rutherford Institute is incorporated as a 501(c)(3) tax exempt nonprofit organization. Donations to support The Rutherford Institute’s legal and educational work help to safeguard the constitutional rights of all Americans. Donations are tax-deductible. In compliance with general industry standards of a nonprofit organization, the Institute is audited annually by an independent accounting firm.

** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])

** update subscription preferences ([link removed])