Supreme Court burping case may hinge on Gorsuch dissent

The Press Democrat (CA) ^ | May 13, 2017 | Sam Hananel

[jiggyboy]

One of Neil Gorsuch’s sharpest dissents as an appeals court judge came just six months before he was nominated for the Supreme Court.

That’s when he sided with a New Mexico seventh-grader who was handcuffed and arrested after his teacher said the student had disrupted gym class with fake burps.

Nearly a year later, Gorsuch sits on the nation’s highest court and the boy’s mother is asking the justices to take up her appeal. She’s using Gorsuch’s words to argue that she has a right to sue the officer who arrested her son.

The court could act as early as Monday, either to deny the case or take more time to decide.

Justices typically withdraw from cases they heard before joining the Supreme Court, which means Gorsuch probably would not have any role in considering this one. But that hasn’t stopped lawyers for the mother from featuring his stinging dissent prominently in legal papers. Gorsuch said arresting a “class clown” for burping was going “a step too far.”

The New Mexico incident began in 2011 when the student, known only as F.M. in court papers, kept interrupting his physical education class with fake burps. The teacher sent him into the hallway, where he continued burping and laughing as he leaned into the classroom entrance.

[antidisestablishment]

Totalitarianism vs anarchy?

That’s a bit of a false dilemma—there is quite a bit of middle ground you missed. Of course, we need law, but law cannot replace moral restraint. Using police for school discipline is the end result of liberal education policies. From a liberal perspective, it makes sense—just like using our military as a meals-on-wheels program. The problem with both approaches is that they deny the very purpose of the respective offices—the police exist to protect society from criminals while the military protects us from foreign powers. Their training and operations are specific and completely valid in the proper sphere, but absolutely unsuited for dealing with the general public.

I worked in adoption for years, so you don’t have to convince me there are dangerous children—our child welfare system excels at producing them, but that’s another topic. I have visited every type of institution associated with “problem children,” and the one common element is a lack of moral instruction and a complete lack of discipline due to liberal philosophies. The numerous evils of the Dickensonian orphanages are only exceeded by our current system, and that’s not hyperbole.

However; this article deals with a child disrupting a class by rude behavior. Such behavior needs to be addressed, but not by any type of police action. Let’s be truthful here—unless the child has a weapon, seventh graders are no threat to any adult male—and, yes, principals should be males—preferably with the word Marine prominently in their resumes.

We used to joke about your “permanent record;” children today are living in a dystopian novel where childish pranks result in court actions that disrupt lives and destroy families. Unless you’ve been the target of such actions, you’ll never understand the danger. It’s real and far exceeds the danger of any seventh-graders forced burp or even attempted violence.

[dhs12345]

I know about kids, too and a child that burps and refuses to stop should be sent to the office. And then something happened in office to warrant the police.

BTW, my wife, an educator experienced a similar situation — only the young boy was suspended and then didn’t return to school. So I believe that this child did something very serious including assault and then yes, the police should be called.

Threat of violence or actual physical violence towards a teacher is a serious thing and should not be taken lightly.