Posted on 06/10/2004 12:38:33 PM PDT by wmichgrad
DETROIT (AP) — Students were lined up against walls in hallways and illegally frisked by police and school security officers, according to a federal lawsuit filed Thursday.
The Feb. 18 search at Mumford High School was one of at least four conducted this school year at high schools in the city, said Detroit attorney Amos Williams, who joined the American Civil Liberties Union in filing the suit on behalf of three students.
The officers were looking for contraband such as guns or drugs, but pat-down searches of Mumford's approximately 1,800 students turned up no such items, said Michael Sternberg, legal director for the ACLU of Michigan.
One student who objected to being searched was arrested for disorderly conduct, Sternberg said during a news conference.
After they were frisked and their pockets, purses and school bags were inspected, the students were taken to the school auditorium and not allowed to leave during the 90 minutes it took to search all of them, the complaint said.
The ACLU's complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Detroit, accuses the school district of maintaining a policy of periodically conducting unannounced mass searches for guns or drugs. Such "sweeps" are unconstitutional because they are not based on suspected lawbreaking by any one student or group, the complaint says.
"These kinds of policies turn our schoolhouses into jailhouses," Williams said.
Mattie Majors, a spokeswoman for the Detroit Public Schools, said the district could not comment until it saw the lawsuit. Howard Hughey, a spokesman for Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's office, had no immediate comment.
The plaintiffs — Mumford students Fred Wells, Wesley Ray and Candice Holmes, Wells' grandmother, Sharon Kelso, and Ray's and Holmes' mothers — are asking that the sweeps be declared unconstitutional. They also seek unspecified damages and a ban on future searches.
"Kids should be free to be not intimidated and victimized by the people who are supposed to be protecting them," said Kelso, who attended the news conference with her grandson.
Sweeps also were held this school year at Murray-Wright, Pershing and Redford high schools, Sternberg said. Details of those searches were not provided.
Metal detectors and the presence of police and security officers have not completely curtailed in Michigan's largest school district.
An 18-year-old man was shot six times in the legs on Jan. 13 inside Northern High School by another man, neither of whom was enrolled at the school. Police said the gunman might have entered the school as students were leaving through one of the exit doors, where metal detectors are not in place.
Students at Osborn and Finney high schools shot themselves when guns they were carrying accidentally discharged in December 2002 and March 2003, respectively. An 18-year-old man was wounded in January 2003 while standing outside Chadsey High School.
ACLU executive director Kary Moss said the sweeps policy is a flawed means of protecting students against violence.
"Once you open this door, it's very hard to close," she said.
Verbally asserting unalienable rights has become an arrestable offense.
Land of the free, my arse.
Religion in the public square (and airspace).
"Kids should be free to be not intimidated and victimized by the people who are supposed to be protecting
them," said Kelso, who attended the news conference with her grandson.
This truly bothers the heck out of me. No wonder people tend to be somewhat afraid of the police. If you have enough of these experiences at a young age I would be disenchated with the police too. This is a school for gods sake.
Seems like every story like this ends up with nothing being found on the students. Everybody gets searched by the cops, sometimes with dogs, and nothing is found.
Looks to me like that's evidence enough that these searches are unwarranted (in more ways than one).
>>This is a school for gods sake.<<
Ever been in one of these schools in Detroit?
It's not a school, it's a war zone.
If I had to attend one of these zoos, I would willingly be searched everytime I walked in. It keeps the weapons from the other students.
Do you think the police walk in and search because they have nothing else better to do? Or to show power? We have had many children killed in Detroit in the past two years. A few weeks ago a gang of girls were stopped from entering one of these schools who were going to beat the students there. I would like to hear the entire story before I judge that it was an unwarranted search.
I'll be back in a few hours with my flame suit on.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.