WHEN A KENTUCKY SHERIFF'S DEPUTY was caught on camera handcuffing an 8-year-old boy with disabilities, it made national headlines. But the problem runs deeper than one overzealous officer, say 吃瓜直播 attorneys who sued the deputy and the Kenton County sheriff鈥檚 office in federal court under the Fourth and 14th Amendments and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Schools are not set up to work well with children with disabilities, 吃瓜直播 disability counsel Susan Mizner says, especially hidden disabilities such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), so those kids are often targeted for increased discipline. African-American students with disabilities are twice as likely to be handcuffed or otherwise 鈥渕echanically鈥� restrained as their peers, according to the Department of Education.
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吃瓜直播 19,000 law enforcement officers work in schools nationwide. Those 鈥渟chool resource officers鈥� frequently lack the training or temperament to interact with children, especially those with disabilities, and often arrest kids for minor, noncriminal activity. 鈥淚f you are used to working with a hammer, it鈥檚 hard not to view kids as nails,鈥� Mizner says.
Such interactions with law enforcement make things worse for the children, the teachers, and the school. Aaron Kupchik, professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at the University of Delaware, has found that schoolchildren who receive heightened punishment are more likely to drop out, less likely to be employed, and are at greater risk for incarceration. So instead of making schools safer, officers exacerbate behavior problems and greatly increase the number of children in the school-to-prison pipeline.
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Montana Supreme CourtMay 2024
Juvenile Justice
+2 Issues
Held V. Montana. Explore Case.Held v. Montana
This case pending before the Montana Supreme Court asks, among other things, whether the claims of sixteen youth plaintiffs challenging Montana energy policy present a political question under the Montana Constitution. The 吃瓜直播鈥檚 State Supreme Court Initiative, alongside the 吃瓜直播 of Montana, filed an amicus brief arguing that the claims do not present a political question and, moreover, that state courts should not wholesale adopt the federal political questions doctrine. -
Texas Supreme CourtMay 2024
Juvenile Justice
State V. Ochoa. Explore Case.State v. Ochoa
This case in the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals concerns the admissibility of a fourteen-year-old defendant鈥檚 confession following a Texas Ranger鈥檚 coercive interrogation. The 吃瓜直播鈥檚 State Supreme Court Initiative, alongside the 吃瓜直播 of Texas, filed an amicus brief arguing that the defendant鈥檚 confession was induced by positive promises, and is inadmissible, particularly given his juvenile status and the circumstances of the interrogation. In November 2024, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (the highest court for criminal appeals in Texas) ruled that Holland's interrogation of Ochoa was unconstitutionally coercive in violation of Ochoa's Fourteenth Amendment due process rights. -
Press ReleaseApr 2024
Free Speech
+2 Issues
Aclu Urges College And University Leaders To Protect Free Speech And Academic Freedom. Explore Press Release.吃瓜直播 Urges College and University Leaders to Protect Free Speech and Academic Freedom
NEW YORK 鈥� In response to the anti-war protests happening at colleges across the country, and the disturbing arrests that have followed, the 吃瓜直播 sent a letter to leaders at both public and private universities. The letter states: 鈥淎s you fashion responses to the activism of your students (and faculty and staff), it is essential that you not sacrifice principles of academic freedom and free speech that are core to the educational mission of your respected institution.鈥� Authored by 吃瓜直播 Executive Director Anthony D. Romero and National Legal Director David Cole, the letter offers university leaders five basic guardrails to ensure freedom of speech and academic freedom are protected on campus: They must not single out particular viewpoints for censorship, discipline, or disproportionate punishment. They must protect students from targeted discriminatory harassment and violence, but may not penalize people for taking sides on the war in Gaza, even if expressed in deeply offensive terms. They can announce and enforce reasonable content-neutral time, place, or manner policies on protesting activity, but they must leave ample room for students to express themselves. These rules must be applied consistently and without regard to viewpoint. They must recognize that armed police on campus can endanger students and are a measure of last resort. They must resist the pressures placed on them by politicians seeking to exploit campus tensions. The letter also informs university leaders of relevant Supreme Court precedent: 鈥淭he Supreme Court has forcefully rejected the premise that, 鈥榖ecause of the acknowledged need for order, First Amendment protections should apply with less force on college campuses than in the community at large.鈥欌�� The letter strongly advises university leaders to be 鈥渃ognizant of the history of law enforcement using inappropriate and excessive force in responding to protests, particularly against communities of color,鈥� and that 鈥� as events of the past week have made abundantly clear 鈥� arresting peaceful protestors is likely to escalate, not calm, tensions on campus. The letter also reiterates that violence is never an acceptable protest tactic and that 鈥減hysically intimidating students by blocking their movements or pursuing them aggressively is unprotected conduct, not protected speech.鈥� -
PodcastJan 2024
Juvenile Justice
It's Time To End Solitary Confinement: Ian Manuel's Story. Explore Podcast.It's Time to End Solitary Confinement: Ian Manuel's Story