Hi, Phil!

Re: the verbal flaying of a classmate and school suspension for same:

The literary history of poetic assault on the former beloved is long and deep, going all the way back to the Roman lyric poet Catullus. The kid was suspended for poetry. Not especially good poetry, judging by the report of its content, but poetry nonetheless. If it was a single incident, it was probably stretching school policy to suspend him. The principal and board weren't thinking straight, though I agree that their hearts were in the right place. Mandatory counselling and amending the school policy book to forbid future expressions was a better way to go.

Do you know whether the love/hate interest filed a complaint? And I mean a criminal or civil complaint, not going to the school guidance counsellor. Had she done so, the school administration would have had a leg to stand on. Schools are not police, but schools can, do, and must enforce court-issued protection-from-abuse orders to the best of their ability. And the rules of evidence are different for court cases, and different in civil vs. criminal court. If the poem is as hideous as depicted, and he had published and distributed it, or harassed her in school (or anywhere else), she might be able to nail him for stalking and get a restraining order that would be much more than a suspension.

Also: was this done on school property, or was the letter delivered to the girl's home or in person at a third location? This too would make a difference. Schools only have jurisdiction over things done by students on school property, with certain exceptions noted in writing in the school policy book, e.g., chemical abuse by athletes anywhere and any student convicted of a felony may be the subject of school discipline. See "has she filed a complaint?", above.

You can't change the rules on somebody in the middle and punish him for not knowing the future contents of your after-the-fact decision. Notice the ACLU doesn't go after the school districts that ban tee shirts with obscenities and beer commercials on them. This is because the perameters are clearly stated in the policy book.

This is a case of making sure the rules are clear.

And the ACLU is not always on the side of the liberals. They filed a friend of the court brief in the Branch Davidian case, protesting the abridgement of the group's First Amendment rights, one of the few times the ACLU and the NRA have been on the same side, for all the good it did.

The "Indian Question":
The school board is an elected body, no? What political group has put pressure on it to act in this way, if the students, teachers and parents all voted to keep the "mascot"? (The word "mascot" itself is something of a giveaway here, reminiscent as it is of bears, goats, and other beasts. Why don't they adopt the U.S. Marines as their "mascot"?)

The big-G "government" has not come down from on high. No court order has dictated this action. This is two housewives, an accountant, a real estate salesman, a couple of lawyers, a contracter, a local bank officer and a retired guy who live there. (Composition of the school board depicted here is my own plausible fiction, not actual knowledge.) We had a problem with a few of the decisions made by our local board several years ago. Five hundred people started showing up at meetings, and at the next available opportunity, we booted 'em. Democracy in action. What's the problem?

Regards--
Mary Anne