Story link. Teachers approved by board for classroom return at Wilson High School in New York State.
Categories
New Mexico tv and ridio stations announced on July 14 that a principal Robertson High School hazing violated his probation by attending a concert and could serve one year in jail.
Categories
Milford case update
cincinnati.com
July 13, 2009
Milford not immune in bully case
By Barrett J. Brunsman
bbrunsman@enquirer.com
MIAMI TWP. – The 12th District Court of Appeals in Middletown on Monday upheld a Clermont County judge’s decision that the Milford School District doesn’t have immunity against claims of bullying.
A lawsuit filed last year on behalf of a boy who was bullied by fellow members of the Milford High School freshman basketball team can proceed against the coach and school district, and it could have national implications, a local attorney said.
“Little case law exists regarding (such) challenges,” said attorney Joe Braun of Strauss & Troy, who filed the suit on behalf of the boy and his family. “This area of the law is still developing, and it’s drawn national attention.
“I was recently contacted by attorneys in Tampa who were handling a case with similar facts,” Braun said. “They were looking to this case for guidance as Florida law had little precedent in this area as well.”
Even so, Ohio law is clear that the case against the school district and coach Thomas Kilgore should continue, Braun said.
An attorney handling the case for the school district, Bernard Wharton, didn’t respond to an Enquirer request for comment on the decision.
The Milford School District could appeal Monday’s ruling to the Ohio Supreme Court, or it could try to settle the suit or defend itself at trial.
The suit asks that the district and coach be ordered to pay unspecified punitive and compensatory damages.
Three teenagers admitted in Juvenile Court they bullied the boy, who was 14. They pinned their teammate to the ground and repeatedly punched him in the stomach.
One boy then tried to force sexual contact, according to the suit. That bully and his parents, Karen and Thomas C. Settles, are also named as defendants, but they were not part of the appeal.
The appeals court overruled Judge Jerry R. McBride of Common Pleas Court in tossing out a claim of negligent supervision against the school district and coach.
However, the appeals court upheld McBride’s ruling that the school district and coach could be sued on a claim of civil hazing or bullying.
The lawsuit alleges the coach “contributed to and encouraged a pattern of hazing and bullying activities which eventually led to the assault,” Judge William Young noted in the unanimous decision of a three-member panel of the appeals court.
By Arrin Newton Brunson
Special To The Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune
Updated:07/14/2009 06:11:58 AM MDT
Logan » A 22-year-old Logan woman said an eight-day jail term isn’t nearly as intimidating as the anguish she faces since buying the bottle of vodka last fall that was involved in a Utah State University student’s death.
“I’m sorry. I’m so ashamed of what I did,” said Erin Anthony during Monday’s sentencing hearing in Logan’s 1st District Court.
Police reports say Anthony, a USU American studies major, didn’t know the vodka would be used during a joint Chi Omega sorority and Sigma Nu fraternity pledging event last November.
Cache County prosecutors allege the event was hazing, but have yet to secure any hazing convictions among the 12 students charged under the statute, which makes it a crime to induce another to engage in humiliating and dangerous behavior as a condition for admission into an organization.
Freshman fraternity pledge Michael Starks of Salt Lake City died of alcohol poisoning in the early morning hours of Nov. 21, a few hours after a “capture” ritual in which he drank much of Anthony’s fifth of vodka in the company of eight Chi Omega women.
Sigma Nu members chose Starks to be captured by the sorority women as a reward for being the fraternity’s favorite pledge.
“I know you think about him every day. I didn’t know him, but I think about him every day, too,” Anthony told George Starks III, the victim’s oldest brother.
Anthony told 1st District Judge Thomas L. Willmore she wouldn’t make excuses for her behavior. Anthony pleaded guilty June 1 to a Class B misdemeanor charge of unlawful sale/supply of alcohol to a minor.
“I can’t give you a reason for doing what I did, because any reason is just going to be an excuse. I broke a law. It wasn’t a mistake or an accident,” Anthony said.
Starks said his family is not angry at Anthony.
“I have and my family has been waiting for some type of apology from one of these individuals … Myself nor my family holds any malice or bad will toward [Anthony] and we hope that as she moves forward, it impacts her life positively,” Starks said.
Willmore urged state prosecutors to recommend harsher sentences for alcohol distribution violations.
“I’ve been on the bench now for 10½ years and I’ve seen hundreds if not thousands of unlawful possession of alcohol cases,” Willmore said. “These underage people are getting alcohol from somewhere and they’re not buying it themselves.”
Willmore described Anthony’s remorseful attitude as “very different from the others right from the beginning,” before sentencing her to one year in jail, with all but eight days suspended.
Anthony must also pay a $1,000 fine and complete 200 hours of community service, where she will address high school and college students about the dangers of underage drinking.
Anthony will spend the next four weekends in jail starting Friday. She’ll serve her sentence on the weekends so as not interfere with her employment.
Categories
Wilson boy speaks out
http://www.wgrz.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=68431&provider=gnews
Interview with Cody Sherman, Wilson High School