He may not have a choice: federal law REQUIRES the reporting of a violation of his son's civil rights by a teacher....


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Posted by archy on November 13, 1999 at 18:16:51:

In Reply to: Tim.... DO THIS posted by Steve Kanavas on November 08, 1999 at 23:39:36:

Since his son's truck is presumably legally registered/insured/equipped, not *allowing* him to utilize it constitute a deprivation of his right to use his property in a lawful manner, though others are not similarly discriminated against. The prejudices that one teracher or administrator holds against the origin of the vehicle is meaningless, as much as if he didn't care for Mustangs or Japmobiles.

So if it's just one pushy teacher, it's likely a case of either Official Misconduct or extortion, depending on the law in the particular state. In the last couple of states where I resided, a public servant such as a teacher who committed Official Misconduct could be removed from their teaching position, and in the event the incident was repeated, the matter became one of a *continuing pattern of criminal activity* against the same victim, or *Racketeering* as defined under the law- and a felony offense.

Of course, it may indeed be a case in which the teacher is but enforcing a written policy or regulation imposed by others, in which instead, the following applies:

Title 18, U.S. Criminal Code, Section 242: Deprivation of rights under color of law:

*Whoever, under color of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, willfully subjects any person in any State, Territory,
Commonwealth, Possession, or District to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the
Constitution or laws of the United States,
or to different punishments, pains, or penalties, on account of such person being an
alien, or by reason of his color, or race, than are prescribed for the punishment of citizens, shall be fined under this title or
imprisoned not more than one year, or both;
and if bodily injury results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if
such acts include the use, attempted use, or threatened use of a dangerous weapon, explosives, or fire, shall be fined under this
title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and if death results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if
such acts include kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual
abuse, or an attempt to kill, shall be fined under this title, or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, or both, or may be
sentenced to death.*

Note also:

Title 18, U.S. Criminal Code, Section 371: Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud United States:


If two or more persons conspire either to commit any offense against the United States, or to
defraud the United States, or any agency thereof in any manner or for any purpose, and one or
more of such persons do any act to effect the object of the conspiracy, each shall be fined under
this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.

If, however, the offense, the commission of which is the object of the conspiracy, is a
misdemeanor only, the punishment for such conspiracy shall not exceed the maximum
punishment provided for such misdemeanor.

It might be interesting to see if the school's principal or administrators, as well as the school board members, will be willing to
face imprisonment for the whims of a teacher, particularly if there was a previous incident involving a student's earring.

But there's not much choice in the matter, for a citizen who obeys and upholds the law:

Title 18, Us Criminal Code, Section 4: Misprision of felony:

Whoever, having knowledge of the actual commission of a felony cognizable by a court of the United States, conceals and does
not as soon as possible make known the same to some judge or other person in civil or military authority under the United
States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.

The last fella I know who was placed in this position was required, by law, to make such actions known against an offender who happened to be a U.S. Congressman whose name was *Kennedy*- whose mouthpieces threatened to sue for defamation or libel-until they realized that the truth was a defense in such case, and their actions could be construed as a conspiracy in itself. Oops.

I suspect that you'll find that said administrators will back down, particularly quickly, but expect it to become a national story if not.
And of course remember that in the civil suits that naturally follow such criminal matters, since attorneys are paid at 1.5 times their usual rate for the bringing of civil rights cases, [usual rate of $295/hour x 1.5= $442.50 PER HOUR to be paid to the attorney by the defendents even if they choose to settle out of court on the civil case, and their admission of liability can be later used against them in a criminal case. Oops, ooops.
Additionally, the victim may collect damages three times that in such cases. Ooops, ooops, ooops.

The first step should indeed be a meeting with the school's principal or administrator, and the chat should include a state *open door act* or FOIA request for any written policy or directive pertinent to the subject at hand. If they are making up discriminatory rules as they go along, that's a violation, asa established by case law in the South in the 1960s. They not only should know better than that, they have a legal obligation to know better than that.

And if on the subject of *zero tolerance* policies, that should also include a *zero tolerance* for discriminatory rules, civil rights violations, criminal conspiracy or hate crimes or other felony or lesser crimes directed against a student, who is required to subject himself/herself to such criminal mistreatment by those entrusted with that student's welfare and education. What are they trying to do, teach the kids how easy they can get away with breaking the law?

-archy-/-


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