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So in light of the recent US Supreme Court decision and this case. If you talk to the police excessively you will be charged with obstruction. If you remain silent your silence will be used against you. Nice catch 22 there.

Yes a teacher screaming her head off at a teacher does attract attention. That is not the student's fault. Even if he screamed back at her...it is still simply a school matter. I think we can be pretty sure the student was not screaming at the teacher because if he had been it would have been all over the place that what he was suspended for was defiance (not a dress code infraction.) Once he figured out that it was over a shirt, if no one was injured, the LEO should have walked away.

Is it possible for the teen to have been talking over the LEO, sure. But as he had just been harrassed by a teacher over a shirt and had the cops called on him OVER A SHIRT (and the disturbance the teacher made) his being unnerved is 100% understandable. Do you really think it is ok to call talking over a person "obstruction" shouldn't we have a little more respect for the seriousness of that charge. Do you think it is ok to throw a teen in jail for a year because his teacher made a scene and then he talked too much?

I am not nearly as trained as a LEO, just was a teacher myself, I could very easily handle children even when they were talking over me, even when they were bigger than me. I did not have a pair of cuffs and a badge, but I usually found out the truth of a situation without those tools. If I, a little 5 foot 4 inch woman can do that I really expect a LEO to be able to do the same.

What do the police have to do with school dress codes to start with. This was not a police matter. Speaking is not a crime...contempt of cop should not be a prison worthy offense. A teacher screaming at a student over a shirt IMO is a matter for HR and possibly the counseling department.

Yet another example of a person (this time a teen) getting railroaded because someone got their shorts in a twist and want this teen to learn to fear and tremble as serf instead of standing as a citizen.

Jaguar wrote:UPDATE

http://www.wtrf.com/story/22587338/14-y ... ar-in-jail" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

He is now facing a year in jail for "obstructing an officer" when he wouldn't quit talking.

Ah yes....the contempt of cop charge. The "we screwed up and refuse to admit it so we'd like to ruin this young mans life."

I am not saying that there are never case of obstructing an officer, but speech obstructs no one and is a civil liberty.

goose wrote:

mamabearCali wrote:

goose wrote:Unless there is video (and I hope there is, with all the phones around these days) this will come down to a case "he said, he said." The school will make it about the students behavior, not the content of the shirt. Behavior is subject to interpretation and therefor a huge grey area that will give them protection. I bet the NRA doesn't even bother to consider not touching this with a 10' pole. (yes I know it is a double negative) Without some hard evidence it will be way too far off their radar screen.

Sorry, I am cynical.

So how does a temper tantrum from a teacher or a student merit arrest and criminal charges.........unless there was a ton more to this, it doesn't and the school is full of it. The school can do as it likes, unfortunately they do not hold themselves accountable to any sort of common sense anymore. Again, i reccomend homeschool to take them out of the playbook entirely. But the police officers should and the DA should have some sense that wearing a t-shirt even a political one IS NOT A CRIME! Disobeying a teachers orders is a school infraction, NOT A CRIME!

I in no way implied any of their actions were justified. I was just describing how I assume that it will go. Everyone will now hunker down. The dress code will be a big topic at future school board meetings. Teachers will now be sure to have cameras ready. The kids will be more on top of their game and have their cameras ready. No multi million dollar NRA lawsuit. Again, I am not justifying it. I would simply be astonished, outside of further evidence if the NRA ever mentions this in anything other than a "see it's happening again" sort of way.

What should be a multi-million dollar lawsuit is the charges and the arrest.

goose wrote:Unless there is video (and I hope there is, with all the phones around these days) this will come down to a case "he said, he said." The school will make it about the students behavior, not the content of the shirt. Behavior is subject to interpretation and therefor a huge grey area that will give them protection. I bet the NRA doesn't even bother to consider not touching this with a 10' pole. (yes I know it is a double negative) Without some hard evidence it will be way too far off their radar screen.

Sorry, I am cynical.

So how does a temper tantrum from a teacher or a student merit arrest and criminal charges.........unless there was a ton more to this, it doesn't and the school is full of it. The school can do as it likes, unfortunately they do not hold themselves accountable to any sort of common sense anymore. Again, i reccomend homeschool to take them out of the playbook entirely. But the police officers should and the DA should have some sense that wearing a t-shirt even a political one IS NOT A CRIME! Disobeying a teachers orders is a school infraction, NOT A CRIME!

My question is Are gay/straight alliance buttons permitted in school? Are save the whales shirts permitted? How about shirts that promote other political causes? Green earth...enviromental stuff....etc etc etc.

If the school wants to be a politics free zone I am fine with that. But it must be a 100% free from all political jargon, not just that which the handlers dislike. And why in the world did the police go along with filing charges.....WHAT! The school is free to do whatever it likes (suspend him, make him turn it inside out)...but wearing a shirt that supports the second amendment in school is not a crime! Putting a kid in cuffs because of a t-shirt is idiocy.

Bottom line....he is 13 and capable of staying home by himself. Home school him and don't give the idiots in charge another chance to get their meat hooks into him.