First in Her Class: The valedictorian sued, and the town turned on her

The Weekly Standard ^ | 07/14/03 | Jonathan V. Last

[bvw]

It wasn't home schooling, at all, now was it? It was bunch of tax-paid teachers and she did have access to and full use of the high school. She and her gold-digging parents exploited every twist in the rules -- sometimes home tutoring was better, sometimes school.

[Brandon]

Perhaps trying to change the rules retroactively was a last, best effort to call attention to the dirty tricks of the shyster and his kid, e3ven if they knew the rule change itself couldn't withstand close scrutiny.

That would strike me as a childish response. Since the principal's proposed rule changes seem to be sensible, and since he went to great trouble to vet them with people "on the front line" (the student body, etc), I prefer to think he would not stoop to something so childish, but simply made an error in judgment.

It would be far better, imho, for him to announce that the school had realized there were flaws in the system, and here are the proposed fixes for future students. It would have meant admitting that they got snookered (if that is indeed what happened), but sometimes you just have to suck it up and admit like a man that someone else out-thought you.

[Brandon]

I have a disturbing suspicion that if this girl and her father were professing themselves to be Christians, and claiming that they had acted from those motives, some people in this discussion would be chortling over how the clever pair had snuck one over on the heathen school authorities, and lauding the father for making sure his daughter got the best education possible.

Perhaps I am wrong in this, but ....

[independentmind]

The fact that her father is a sleazy lawyer doesn't help matters.

Her father is a state superior court judge who hired a mob lawyer. What more needs to be said?

[BlessedBeGod]

Ah! Another Hillary in the making.

[independentmind]

Why am I not surprised that Louis Hornstine, a New Jersey superior court judge in neighboring Camden County, is buddy, buddy with a mob lawyer?

Somebody around here gets it.

[BlessedBeGod]

I have a disturbing suspicion that if this girl and her father were professing themselves to be Christians, and claiming that they had acted from those motives, some people in this discussion would be chortling over how the clever pair had snuck one over on the heathen school authorities, and lauding the father for making sure his daughter got the best education possible.

Perhaps I am wrong in this, but ....

You're wrong.

[TheSpottedOwl]

Just had an eery feeling...that's the same non-smile on Elizabeth Smart's face. Her eyes NEVER smiled, in all those old photos those many months. Very tired eyes on both girls.

Good comparison. I hope this child someday finds inner peace. That goes for both girls...

[razorback-bert]

a full point for AP classes

My AP classes were offered in the sciences only and rated no bonus, except more work was expected of me.

All this so called "volunteer" work today troubles me too.

I also notice she didn't have any team sports on her resume, where she would learn to work with others for a common goal.

This girl's story is one of the reasons, I have little respect for ivy league graduates.

[VVT]

"her family worked the system to maximize her GPA, within the rules of the school district."

if someone abuses regulations and funds intended for disabled people while she is capable of a lot more than an average student, that is not "within rules".

[Brandon]

That sounds suspiciously like the liberals who bleat about "fairness" instead of equality under the law. The Congress in its lack of wisdom passed the ADA. The school district set up a system to comply with the ADA. This girl and her father APPEAR to have studied the system, realized that there was a way to "win" that no one else had spotted, and used it. As she was approaching the finish line, the people who created the system in the first place realized what had happened and tried to yank away the prize. But you just can't do that. They should have written a system that couldn't be exploited so easily in the first place. Having failed to do that, the best thing they can do is follow through, give her the prize, and redesign the system so that the same thing won't happen in the future.

If there had been fraud or something of that sort, it would be different. The girl and her father could be sued, possibly even prosecuted. The fact that neither the school nor any of the other students appear to have even considered doing so tells us all we need to know: she followed the rules as written, and exploited some flaws she discovered in them. And her classmates are going to have to live with the consequences of the school district's incompetence.

[varon]

Hornstine is a complete fraud, a manipulative deceitful narcissistic charlatan.... a typical lawyer vermin.

...............and a future candidate for a high federal office ;-)

[SamAdams76]

I find it very difficult to accept that this girl had "chronic fatigue" when you consider all the academic accomplishments and volunteer work she did over the years, not to mention the carrying of the Olympic torch. This girl has chronic fatigue about as much as President Bush is fat and out of shape. She should have been in school with her classmates.

[friendly]

Her entire high school "career" was a gigantic scam from the very beginning for the talented grifter Blair and the entire Hornstine gypsy clan of shysters. It will be capped with the theft of money in a "settlement" with the school district.

As Mario Puzo's Godfather said: "One of my lawyers with a briefcase can steal more effectively than a thousand of my best men with guns." (The Hornstine Family Motto!)

[independentmind]

It should not be ingored that Hornstine is a judge in Camden County, the local government of which was under investigation by the FBI for years for corruption of the mob variety. Also, Hornstine actually works in the City of Camden, one of the most notorious cesspools in this country. Just a few years ago, the mayor was convicted of a whole host of mob-related crimes.

Anyone who wants to get a flavor for Camden County politics should take a look at this:

Corruption Information Exchange-New Jersey
http://www.fordham.edu/economics/vinod/cie/usa_nj.htm

[Hildy]

Seems to me that what everyone SHOULD be talking about is the misuse of the ADA. This is what everyone should be worried about.

[dennisw]

bttttttttttt

[friendly]

It should not be ingored that Hornstine is a judge in Camden County, the local government of which was under investigation by the FBI for years for corruption of the mob variety. Also, Hornstine actually works in the City of Camden, one of the most notorious cesspools in this country. Just a few years ago, the mayor was convicted of a whole host of mob-related crimes.

You are so right. Daddy Judge Hornstine is undoubtedly as crooked as they come, being a Camden County Democrat.

The Cosa Nostra is well known as owning Camden County.

And of course the use of a notorious Mafia lawyer as Blair Witch's advocate seems to indicate the fix is in. Undoubtedly payback for springing Mafia skels and fixing numerous cases by mob Judge Hornstine.

[independentmind]

Actually, the relevant law is not ADA; it's IDEA.

[dennisw]

She probably has some minor "health issues" and she and daddy decided to milk them to the max. Turn them into an advantage.