The ACLU’s Lets Turn Desoto County Into Memphis Lawsuit
From the Associated Press:
The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of a DeSoto County School District student who was expelled after officials confiscated his cell phone and found what they described as “gang-related” images.
The suit was filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Greenville. The suit names the school district, an unnamed district employee, Southaven Middle School coaches John Stevenson and Kenneth Walker, police Sgt. Nicholas Kennedy and the city of Southaven.
The story is missing a lot of details, but at first glance makes you wonder what the ACLU is doing. I guess they need to stand up for wannabe gang-bangers rather than loudly criticize a White House administration that sets up a specific e-mail address that allows Americans to report other Americans (that’s a different story of course).
Here’s my two cents on the case:
You give up a certain amount of rights and privacy when you enter school grounds. Most every public school district in this country has some problems with gangs in one form or another, and zero tolerance should be the policy. That said, if this kid was just walking around, following the rules, had his phone turned off and in his backpack, and for some reason his backpack was confiscated and searched and they found the phone and then searched the phone and found these gang-related pictures- then I will have some sympathy for the kid.
However, if he was breaking any rules by having a phone out and it was confiscated for that reason- not so much. It would also be interesting to know if the images were wallpaper that you can see whenever the phone is on, or if you have to search inside the phone to find the pictures.
With Desoto County bordering Memphis, I understand the school taking extra-precautions and having zero tolerance for any gang related activity. The last thing we need is the crime from Memphis to creep into North Mississippi’s schools and communities (even more than it already has).
