Posted on 03/08/2005 1:35:08 PM PST by MikeJ75
CINCINNATI -- A judge has ruled that 17 local high school students shouldn't have been suspended for drinking beer during a trip to Germany last March.
Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Mark Schweikert concluded that Mariemont High School officials failed to clearly warn students and parents that drinking alcohol during the school-sponsored trip would be punished.
Parents insisted that during a meeting before the trip to Munich, they were led to believe the students would be exposed to beer drinking because it is part of the German culture.
The legal drinking age in Germany is 16.
"Knowing of the likelihood of such exposure while in Germany, where this behavior is legal and accepted, the (school) failed to adequately communicate to the students or their parents its specific requirements regarding alcohol consumption and the sanctions that would be applied," the judge said in his ruling.
The school board argued that the trip was a school-related activity, so its code of conduct for students applied. When students returned from the 12-day trip, school officials met them at the airport and informed them that they had broken the rules.
Attorney Gary Winters, who represents the school board, said an appeal is likely.
Attorney Richard Ward, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of two students, said the ruling "means what we knew all along, which was the kids didn't do anything their parents hadn't authorized them to do, and the school was wrong in punishing them."
Following hearings, the school board reduced 15 of the suspensions to community service. Ward said the judge's ruling means that all the sanctions should be erased from students' records.
The suspensions were first challenged in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati. A judge dismissed that lawsuit last May, saying the students' constitutional rights weren't violated by the suspensions.
Thereby blowing more taxpayer dollars.
So the "when in Rome..." argument worked.
Or well, "Munich" in this case.
So the "when in Rome..." argument worked.
Or well, "Munich" in this case.
Not drink beer when you're in Germany. Are they mad!? I guess so.
A good friend of mine spent three years at Checkpoint Charlie. He said he needed a "nice long rest", when he came home.
A bit mad. But if they visited Vermont, and 2 of boys decided to marry...
If it was legal for them to do so, then they cannot be punished for doing it. You do not take the Constitution or the laws of your state with you in your suitcase. If they were in Amsterdam one can only guess what they would have done. But in the end it was legal and the school authority should have respected the rule of law. If the parents did not want their kids to drink they should not have sent them to a place where it was legal for them to do so.....
So I guess it's a good thing they didn't go to Amsterdam.
17 year old boys, legal drinking age 16, appears that they were not supervised, they drank beer.LOL. Some things never change.(At least from my past experiences).
School boards think they are God. There is a move underway in certain districts to allow school boards to levy taxes.
Give them that and it won't be long before they decide they need their own law enforcement also.
Although I don't think that they should have been punished, it is within the school's rights to insist that "school activity" rules should be followed. In this country, it is legal to carry a hunting knife, but we all agree that a school can forbid carrying one at a school activity
LOL! yeah...it might be harder to argue in favor of some legal Dutch activities.
ROFLMAO! Agreed .... legalized prostitution, tolerance of marijuana .... a kid could have a helluva time in Amsterdam!
My Alma Mater. Way to go Warriors!
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