HS Discipline Question

[District303aPastPlayer]

A friend of mine's younger brother witnessed a fight at their HS. The brother is not talking about it, because he doesn't want to get involved in anything that happens with either party. Now the HS is suspening him for not talking... can tehy do this?

[MagicMan]

yes if they want to get sued.

[3afan]

INTERESTING.......

[Hannibal]

Tell him to check the student handbook. If there isn't anything in there, then he can really press his case. If there is, then he better do what it says as the school can do what they wish.

I've never heard anything like that before.

[District303aPastPlayer]

because they did. and the kid is at home.... the fight happened because the kid who got beat up, told about a previous fight.

[pirate44]

tough situation to be in :(

[whtfbplaya]

Why did he say he saw something?

[District303aPastPlayer]

Originally posted by whtfbplaya
Why did he say he saw something?

he didnt. they just saw the fight... he wasnt the only one. but they are doin this to the kids who saw it til they find out what happened... its weird from what she explained to me

[MagicMan]

depending on the age of the fighters the school might have no right at all to interrogate the students. if they are all over 18 it has to be handed over to the cops. the school can still suspend the fighters but witnesses cant be punished if they're staying quiet for their own safety.

[District303aPastPlayer]

Originally posted by MagicMan
depending on the age of the fighters the school might have no right at all to interrogate the students. if they are all over 18 it has to be handed over to the cops. the school can still suspend the fighters but witnesses cant be punished if they're staying quiet for their own safety.

hes under 18, only a soph. but they suspended a couple of kids for not talking to them. schools has cameras... but they were turned off...

[piratebg]

I think the school is about to get in some trouble for this. The student did not violate any kind of rules.

[bullfrog_alumni_02]

Originally posted by piratebg
I think the school is about to get in some trouble for this. The student did not violate any kind of rules. agreed...i can see it in the news on foxor cnn in a few days..."students in texas suspended for obeying the rules???"

[piratebg]

This is a violation of rights. Courts, law enforcement, lawyers....none of these people can make a witness talk. It is their right to talk or remain silent. I smell a law suit brewing.

[shankbear]

Any witness could be subpoenaed to testify in court regarding such a situation. If the student didn't appear in court or didn't testify then he could be held in contempt. He cannot invoke his 5th Amendment rights because he isn't testifying against himself.

I don't know but it looks like the school may be on thin ice from their point.

[bullfrog_alumni_02]

any person at any has the inherent right to talk. what is over looked is that they also have the right to not talk. i think were all in agreement that the school dist feels like paying some of its students families a few million...but the person can go to the court room and still not testify.

[shankbear]

but he does so at his own peril under the rules regarding contempt of court.

[GOFOR2]

Originally posted by District303aPastPlayer
A friend of mine's younger brother witnessed a fight at their HS. The brother is not talking about it, because he doesn't want to get involved in anything that happens with either party. Now the HS is suspening him for not talking... can tehy do this?

Out in the real world you could go to jail for sharing what you see (saw) or better yet, being an accessory to a crime. Schools usually have more latitude in dealing with things like this.

[GOFOR2]

Originally posted by GOFOR2
Out in the real world you could go to jail for NOT sharing what you see (saw) or better yet, being an accessory to a crime. Schools usually have more latitude in dealing with things like this.

[GOFOR2]

I think there is way too much speculation going on with this, especially since we seem to not have all of the facts.

[Hupernikomen]

Should be interesting...schools expect their students to answer questions honestly when they are asked, and typically don't take refusal to comply very well. Let us know how it works out.

[Technoredneck]

sounds like your brother just needs to tell the school he didn't see anything, then they have to prove otherwise. also the kid that got pounded needs to contact a lawyer because the school failed to protect him and he needs to file charges against the other party, now! don't wait.

About your brother, once he has said that he saw nothing the school has no reason to suspend him anymore, no matter what the school handbook says, unless the school has some way with their turned off cameras of konwing what is in his head!

[PPHSfan]

scent of a woman

[STANG RED]

Originally posted by Technoredneck
sounds like your brother just needs to tell the school he didn't see anything, then they have to prove otherwise. also the kid that got pounded needs to contact a lawyer because the school failed to protect him and he needs to file charges against the other party, now! don't wait.

What if the kid that got pounded, was the one that started the fight to begin with??? Maybe he just picked on the wrong dude.

[Technoredneck]

Originally posted by STANG RED
What if the kid that got pounded, was the one that started the fight to begin with??? Maybe he just picked on the wrong dude. maybe, but in his earlier post he said that kid got beat up for talking about a prior fight!

[STANG RED]

Originally posted by Technoredneck
maybe, but in his earlier post he said that kid got beat up for talking about a prior fight!
Eh, who knows? I got a feeling theres much more to this story than we know now. Dont most schools have legal counsel at their disposal, to pose such issues to, before taking action? I know Sweetwater does, and uses them often, just to stay out of sticky situations like this.