|
Newsbrief:
New
Jersey
Student
Sues
Over
Drug
Tests,
Expulsion
5/21/04
Under its zero-tolerance
anti-drug policy, the Washington Township, New Jersey, school district
expelled Adam Gutin in August 2000 and has kept him from returning ever
since. Gutin was expelled after testing positive for marijuana in
a school-administered drug test. Now, he is suing the school district
in federal court, charging that both the drug testing and the district's
harsh punishment are unconstitutional.
In the lawsuit filed last
month, Gutin claims that although he consented to be tested, he was too
young to lawfully consent, and his parents did not give permission.
In one case in which the New Jersey Supreme Court upheld school drug testing
at Hunterdon Central Regional High School, the court noted the school district
in question required consent from both student and parent.
Gutin's attorney, Christopher
Manganello, told the South Jersey News that he was also suing on the grounds
that Gutin did not receive equal protection under the law. Gutin
was deprived of a "free and appropriate public education" because of the
district's zero-tolerance policy. The district did not consider "reasonable
alternative educational options," the lawsuit alleges.
In the Hunterdon case upheld
by the State Supreme Court, students who tested positive were not expelled
but only suspended from non-educational activities and required to take
counseling or other treatment. The district also established an assistance
program that provided drug counseling for students and their families.
But the Washington Township school system provides none of that – only
expulsion.
Gutin and his parents are
suing for punitive damages as well as damages to cover fees and the costs
of repeated appeals. Legal costs for the appeals have been "substantial,"
Manganello said.
-- END --
|
Issue #338, 5/21/04
Editorial: Benefit of the Doubt |
Vermont Becomes Ninth State to Legalize Medical Marijuana – Other States See Progress and Setbacks |
Not With a Bang but a Whimper: California Pain Doctor Frank Fisher Exonerated in Last Criminal Case |
Needle Exchange in New Jersey? Atlantic City Says Yes, Attorney General Says No |
Dope and Diplomacy in Dublin: European Union Conference Tries to Lay Groundwork for Continental Drug Strategy |
Announcing: "The New Prohibition: Voices of Dissent Challenge the Drug War" – New Compendium by Sheriff Masters Features David Borden and Numerous Other Thinkers on Drug Policy |
Newsbrief: New Jersey Student Sues Over Drug Tests, Expulsion |
Newsbrief: Drug War Invades Ultimate Frisbee |
Newsbrief: One in 11 US Prisoners Doing Life, Study Finds |
Newsbrief: This Week's Corrupt Cops Story |
Newsbrief: Bill to Reform Harsh Tennessee Marijuana Sales Law Dies Lonely Death |
Newsbrief: Afghan Government Concedes It Includes Traffickers |
Newsbrief: Rural Maryland Cops Force Students to Disrobe During Drug Raid |
Web Scan: Ron Paul, Mayor Campbell, Westword, Nature, ACLU-TX Task Force Report, New DPFMA Web Site |
Job Opportunity – Research Assistant, Office of Legal Affairs, Drug Policy Alliance, Oakland, California |
The Reformer's Calendar
|
This issue -- main page
This issue -- single-file printer version
Drug War Chronicle -- main page
Chronicle archives
|
PERMISSION to reprint or
redistribute any or all of the contents of Drug War Chronicle (formerly The Week Online with DRCNet is hereby
granted. We ask that any use of these materials include proper credit and,
where appropriate, a link to one or more of our web sites. If your
publication customarily pays for publication, DRCNet requests checks
payable to the organization. If your publication does not pay for
materials, you are free to use the materials gratis. In all cases, we
request notification for our records, including physical copies where
material has appeared in print. Contact: StoptheDrugWar.org: the Drug Reform Coordination Network,
P.O. Box 18402, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 293-8340 (voice), (202)
293-8344 (fax), e-mail [email protected]. Thank
you.
Articles of a purely
educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of the DRCNet
Foundation, unless otherwise noted.
|
