” The Obama administration is issuing new recommendations on classroom discipline that seek to end the apparent disparities in how students of different races are punished for violating school rules.
Civil rights advocates have long said that a “school-to-prison” pipeline stems from overly zealous school discipline policies targeting black and Hispanic students that bring them out of school and into the court system.
Attorney General Eric Holder said the problem often stems from well intentioned “zero-tolerance” policies that too often inject the criminal justice system into the resolution of problems. Zero tolerance policies, a tool that became popular in the 1990s, often spell out uniform and swift punishment for offenses such as truancy, smoking or carrying a weapon. Violators can lose classroom time or become saddled with a criminal record.
“ Ordinary troublemaking can sometimes provoke responses that are overly severe, including out of school suspensions, expulsions and even referral to law enforcement and then you end up with kids that end up in police precincts instead of the principal’s office,” Holder said.”
” Gonzaga students Dan McIntosh and Erik Fagan have now acquired their weapons that were taken from them by campus security four hours after they fended off a home intruder on October 24th. Weapons any place on the G.U. campus or at any university residence is prohibited. McIntosh said that they did not know they could pick them up immediately until KHQ informed them of an e-mail we received from the university stating that they could have their guns back. The only restriction was that the students had to move the weapons off campus to a non-university residence which would be in compliance with the weapons policy.
The Gonzaga students have received probation rather than expulsion , here here … and now they’ve had their weapons returned as well , but unless they move they are now defenseless as the guns may not be kept in their University owned apartment . On the other hand the incident has prompted the University authorities to question their firearms policy and they vow to review them with possible changes to come .
” Gonzaga University will re-examine its weapons policy following an incident with two students and a home intruder two weeks ago. In the meantime the current policy remains in effect. The current policy states that there are to be no weapons on campus or any university owned property. Both students will learn whether or not they will be expelled early next week. Student Erik Fagan had this to say about the university re-examining their weapons policy: “I am very happy to see that they are looking to have a conversation about policies. Because as of now they are making us decide to either protect ourselves and face punishment from the school or follow the policy and not be able to defend ourselves.”
A letter regarding the incident from the University president included this statement :
” In light of the specific circumstances reported in the Gonzaga Bulletin and the press, there have been calls for a re-examination of the University’s policies relating to firearms. As a Jesuit institution dedicated to the thoughtful evaluation of complex social issues, I believe this to be an opportunity to do some important work, as a community: to objectively re-examine our firearms policy and openly debate perspectives and contextual issues with an eye towards an honest and open review of the same. Therefore, I have asked our Vice President for Student Development, Dr. Biggs Garbuio, to work in conjunction with GSBA and RHA to facilitate a campus dialogue focused on this issue. In the meantime, the Student Handbook and its Code of Conduct are in effect and all students are obligated to know their rights and acknowledge their responsibilities as established within them.”
Be sure to check out the comments section after reading the article as there is quite a lively debate taking place , with the vast majority supporting the student’s rights to self-defense and for those interested in the debate and certain assertions made by some of the commenters to the effect that the school firearms prohibition policy DOES NOT apply to off campus housing here is a link to the Student Handbook in PDF format .
One commenter even disputes the ownership of the property where the students reside stating ” The apartment in question is off campus, and there is doubt, based on the publicly available property records, that the complex is even owned by the Gonzaga. The university is listed as the tax paying entity, but the owner is listed as “Colonial City, Inc.”
Here is the relevant section on firearms policy from the Gonzaga student handbook , most recently updated on 9.18.2013 :
” The presence and use of weapons on campus presents a potential threat to the safety of all community members. Use or display of weapons may result in threat or injury to self or others. Use or display of weapons, whether intentional or not, is generally inconsistent with the University’s Ethos Statement and may be illegal.
Possession, use, display, sale or exchange of weapons at any location on campus, including University residential facilities and privately-owned vehicles, is prohibited. The term “weapon” means any object designed to propel an object, inflict a wound, cause injury, incapacitate, damage property or cause a reasonable fear of such, and includes, but is not limited to, all firearms, pellet/BB/air guns, paintball guns, home-manufactured cannons or explosive devices, bows and arrows, slingshots, clubs, martial arts devices, switchblades or otherwise-illegal knives or knives with a blade longer than three inches (with the exception of kitchen knives in our University homes and apartments). Replica guns and other simulated weapons are included within this policy. Objects otherwise not considered weapons, and knives with blades less than three inches, may be included within this policy if used as a weapon. Fireworks, flammables, explosives and chemicals of an explosive and/or flammable nature are also prohibited. Exceptions to this policy may be authorized by the Director of Campus Public Safety and Security. The University retains the right to search persons, possessions and bags and privately-owned vehicles on University property, and to confiscate, retain and dispose of/destroy all items covered by this policy regardless of value or ownership. Law enforcement may be contacted for some violations of this policy.”
The code would seem to be quite ambiguous concerning off-campus housing , university owned or not . There are two references to weapons prohibitions and they both very explicitly speak of “ON CAMPUS” locations . The code does not specifically mention off campus housing at all .
Given the above reading of the student handbook the students would seem to have acted well within their rights and have the facts to prevail in court . However , considering the fact that both Mr Fagan and Mr McIntosh are barely a semester from graduation we can understand their anxiousness to be done with the entire affair .
” A pair of Gonzaga students feel they are being unfairly punished after they used a legal handgun to defend themselves against a convicted felon at their university owned apartment, which, according to reports is off the university campus.
The pair called police to report an incident that occurred in late October. A man, described by police as convicted felon several times over, knocked on the door of the apartment.
When one of the resident answered, the suspect attempted to coerce money from the student. When he refused, the suspect attempted to force entry into the apartment. That’s when the resident showed that he was armed and the suspect immediately fled.”
” A week after he was arrested for running naked across the Sparkman High School football field during a September 27 game in a streaking gag, and just one day after school officials threatened criminal charges against him that could have resulted in an adult prosecution and conviction requiring lifelong registration as a sex offender, 15-year-old Christian Adamek from Huntsville, Alabama, hanged himself. He died from his injuries two days later.
Christian reportedly was expelled from school over the incident, but school officials were pressing for a hearing in the Madison County court system to determine if formal criminal charges would be filed.
Approximately 250,000 youth under age 18 are prosecuted, sentenced, and incarcerated in the adult criminal justice system each year and nearly 100,000 youth are placed in adult jails and prisons annually in America.”
This is just one more example of the degradation and (deserved) loss of respect for the law and authority being advanced in a society increasingly controlled by lawyers . Remember … when everything is a crime , everyone is a criminal .
” A suspended seventh-grade student in Virginia Beach, Va., could be expelled for the rest of the school year for shooting an airsoft gun with a friend in his yard as they waited for the bus to come.
Khalid Caraballo, 12, and his friend, Aidan, were suspended for “possession, handling and use of a firearm” because they “shot two other friends who were with them while playing” with the airsoft guns, WAVY-TV reported.
“We were in our yard. This had nothing to do with school,” the student said.”
” For those who still wonder how Albany works, here’s a short scorecard. Not long after a state ethics commission released a report on the serial sexual harassment by Vito Lopez, it became clear he would have to leave. It also became clear the politicians who enabled him would continue with business as usual.
Right now there’s something of a race regarding Lopez’s departure. The state assemblyman says he’ll resign on June 20. Andrew Cuomo says he should go now or be expelled. Shelly Silver says he’s working on expulsion.
What Lopez did is vile enough. But he couldn’t have got away with it for as long as he did without assistance from the most powerful man in the Legislature, Speaker Silver. Instead of moving to kick Lopez out when two staffers complained of sexual harassment, Silver enabled Lopez by paying the women over $100,000 from public funds to keep them quiet.
Then there’s Gov. Cuomo. The governor says there must be “zero tolerance” for the behavior Lopez showed. But instead of calling for Silver to step down for the coverup, Cuomo is defending him.”
A Little Background on “Shelly” Silver
This man is allowed to sit on the board of one of the biggest tort law firms in New York , all the while controlling the very legislation that passes through the state government . Given the leftist proclivities of the “people’s republic of NY” Silver is and has been effectively in control of the state assembly for decades . Is it any wonder that trial lawyers rule the state , to the detriment of honest citizens everywhere ?
“That means that Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver will have to disclose within a narrowed range of income levels how much he earns at Weitz & Luxenberg, the law firm where he is of counsel.
Silver’s relationship with the powerful tort firm has long been an issue, as critics have wondered if it has led to legislation benefitting trial lawyers. The speaker has refused to say how much he earns at the firm.”
” Now Withrow has found out he will be able to graduate on time. Although he will have to attend an alternate school for his remaining two weeks and he will not be able to attend graduation ceremonies with his friends.
Withrow thought he may not be able to attend college just a couple days ago, but now he finds himself with a full ride to Liberty University.
Liberty University issued the following statement:
Liberty University Chancellor Jerry Falwell, Jr., while traveling in North Carolina, learned of Cole Withrow’s story from a local evening news broadcast. The 18-year-old was wearing a “Liberty Football” T-shirt. Falwell followed up with him, discovering his sister was a graduate.
” Proving that no good deed goes unpunished, Ryan Rotela, the young man who refused his teacher’s order to stomp on a paper with Jesus’ name written on it, is being brought up on academic charges accusing him of everything from violating the student code of conduct, to threats, harassment, and intimidation.
Ryan Rotela is (or was) a junior at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida, when he was suspended because he refused to write Jesus’ name on a paper taped to the ground and then stomp on Christ’s name. Dr. Deandre Poole, who was teaching Rotela’s Intercultural Communications class apparently got the idea from a an exercise in a book entitled Intercultural Communication: A Contextual Approach, 5th Edition.”
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