The School Board returned to open session and, in separate votes, voted to expel Bond, Carson and Honorable for two years. AnyLaw is the FREE and Friendly legal research service that gives you unlimited access to massive amounts of valuable legal data. The students brought their First Amended Complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. The court observed the testimony of both Hunt and Byrkit and finds them to be credible witnesses. Hunt (Hunt), director of human resources for the District, also testified that he was present at the game. In Bethel School District No. Scott testified that he did not tell Ms. Howell that her son was going to be expelled. Proimos v. Fair Auto. of Educ. Fuller v. Decatur Public School Board. It makes the rule somewhat confusing, but it does not affect our analysis. On November 8, 1999, representatives of the School District met for 8 hours with representatives of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition and Governor Ryan. Rule 10 states: At trial, Dr. Amprey testified that, in his opinion, "the rule in and of itself is subject to so many varied definitions of the term `gang' that renders itself, for lack of a better term, useless in the sense of clearly defining or of pointing out that someone is involved in gang activity." 2d 731 (1969)). However, Ms. Fuller testified that, prior to the hearing set for her son before Dr. Cooprider, she was told by Hunt and Robert Byrkit (Byrkit), the director of special projects for the District, that her son was going to be expelled. To succeed, however, the complainant must demonstrate that the law is impermissibly vague in all of its applications. Bd. In determining whether the students have succeeded on the merits of their claims, this court is mindful that, as Plaintiffs, the students bear the burden of proving their claims. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the expulsions of the students. It is undisputed that seven spectators, six students and one adult, filed accident reports at MacArthur High School following the incident. Boucher, 134 F.3d at 827 (quoting Tinker v. Des Moines Indep. However, this court reserved ruling as to whether Dr. Amprey's "specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue." In addition, gang membership seems not to implicate the right of association: in Morales, the Chicago ordinance's impact on the social contact between gang members and others does not impair the First Amendment right of association that our cases have recognized. 119 S.Ct. The Illinois Supreme Court found that the ordinance was unconstitutionally vague, and the United States Supreme Court agreed and affirmed. The length of these expulsions ranged from a period to five months to a period of one year, three months. 99-CV-2277 in the Illinois Central District Court. Most public schools are open to anystudent who lives within the geographic area. Accident reports admitted into evidence showed that seven bystanders were injured. However, the evidence presented by the students' own witnesses showed that this resolution had no impact on student disciplinary cases. Arndt's testimony was corroborated by Perkins, the students' witness. In short, this court is not impressed with the students' position that because no knives or guns were used in *815 the melee that it was not a significant fight. At the outset, it is important to note that a federal court's role in school disciplinary matters is very limited. The Board conducted separate votes for each of the five remaining students; the result was that the length of the expulsions was shortened to last only through the remainder of the 1999-2000 school year. at 444-45. On the other hand, in our case, the rule on its face and certainly as applied to these students prohibits threatening and intimidating actions taken in the name of a gang. In addition, no one attended the hearings on their behalf. Scott recommended that Howell and Honorable be expelled for two years. OF ED Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. 503, 506 (1969). 207, 29 F.3d 1149 (7th Cir.1994). He was also a kick returner with UCLA. Tinker v. Des Moines (1969) . According to state test scores, 53% of students are at least proficient in math and 64% in reading. Hunt further testified that he did not state or imply that she would be wasting her time to come to the hearing. Bd. Because of the violent nature of the fight, a portion of which was captured on videotape, approximately one-half of the spectators in the bleachers scattered and left the stands to avoid confrontation and possible injury. The outcome was a student filed suit, Fuller versus Decatur Public School Board of Education School District 61. Further, Jeffrey Perkins, one of the African American members of the School Board, was called as a witness by the students. The Board voted to expel both students for 2 years. *824 At the beginning of trial, the students asked the School Board to produce an "Expulsion Summary" which Arndt prepared for the School Board on October 5, 1999. Fuller v. Decatur Public School BD. The Monday after the game, an investigation began at each high school to determine who was involved in the fight. [1] In Stephenson, a high school student was required to remove a small cross tattooed on her hand because school administrators considered it a "gang symbol." Both of these rules state that a "recommendation for expulsion" may be made for a first or subsequent violation of the rule. A 15-year-old male student complained that he was struck in the left cheek and suffered a contusion to his face. On November 30, 1999, Plaintiffs Roosevelt Fuller, Gregory Howell, Terence Jarrett, Errol Bond, Shawn Honorable and Courtney Carson (students) filed their First Amended Complaint (# 29) against Defendants, Decatur Public School Board of Education School District 61 (School Board), Superintendent Kenneth Arndt, School Board President Jacqueline Goetter, and five members of the School Board. Illinois, Danville/Urbana Division. You already receive all suggested Justia Opinion Summary Newsletters. Fuller and Howell have now graduated from high school. Rather, they rely on the second, which is that even if a law does not reach a substantial amount of constitutionally protected conduct, it can be found to be impermissibly vague if it fails to define the offense with sufficient definiteness that ordinary people can understand what conduct is prohibited and it fails to establish standards to permit enforcement in a nonarbitrary, nondiscriminatory manner. AnyLaw is the FREE and Friendly legal research service that gives you unlimited access to massive amounts of valuable legal data. Boehm testified that spectators who were in the east bleachers during the fight expressed fear, stress and turmoil when he talked to them after the fight. The fight and the expulsions received considerable media attention as well as the attention of the Reverend Jesse Jackson and Illinois Governor George Ryan. The court concluded that the regulation prohibiting gang symbols was constitutionally infirm because it failed to provide adequate notice of the prohibited conduct. 702. In fact, it may be that the ordinance was not clearly enough limited in its application to gang members. Ms. Kendrex testified that she was in the building at the time of the hearing for Bond but did not go in because she "was in shock." FULLER v. DECATUR PUBLIC SCHOOL BOARD OF EDUCATION | C.D. Accordingly, there is no *821 expulsion decision of the School Board involving Howell for this court to enjoin or declare unconstitutional. The students expelled were Roosevelt Fuller and Errol Bond, who attended Stephen Decatur High School; Gregory Howell and Shawn Honorable, who were students at Eisenhower High School; and Terence Jarrett and Courtney Carson, who were students at MacArthur High School. Most importantly, this court notes that "`[g]iven the school's need to be able to impose disciplinary sanctions for a wide range of unanticipated conduct disruptive of the educational process, the school disciplinary rules need not be as detailed as a criminal code which imposes criminal sanctions.'" Justice O'Connor, joined by Justice Breyer, said, If the ordinance applied only to persons reasonably believed to be gang members, this requirement might have cured the ordinance's vagueness because it would have directed the manner in which the order was issued by specifying to whom the order could be issued. 119 S.Ct. Also, the students claimed the School Board did not listen to the tape of the hearings before Dr. Cooprider, look at the exhibits presented to the hearing officer, or request evidence from the students' files prior to voting on the expulsions. The ordinance prohibited criminal street gang members from loitering with one another or other persons in any public place. The email address cannot be subscribed. After returning to open session, the School Board voted, in a separate vote for each student, to change the *819 length of the expulsions to the remainder of the 1999-2000 school year. According to Boehm, when the fight was over, the bleachers were approximately one-half full. The Seventh Circuit has determined that an expulsion hearing "need not take the form of a judicial or quasi-judicial trial." 00-1233 In the United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit Argued March 28, 2001 Decided MAY 24, 2001 The students have cited absolutely no case law authority in support of this argument. Courts reached mixed results when students had knives in schools . 1983. It showed participants punching and kicking each other without concern for the safety of others in the stands. Defendants note that the School Board took no action against Howell as he voluntarily withdrew from school. We believe all students, whatever their circumstances or abilities, deserve the best education possible. Reverend Jesse Jackson was allowed to address the School Board. Woodis, 160 F.3d at 438-39. 2d 67 (1999). Because the period of expulsion has ended, the students recognize that any remedy is necessarily limited, but they seek an order sending the case back to the district court for a determination whether expungement of the disciplinary records is an appropriate remedy. The School Board reviewed Dr. Cooprider's Reports regarding Bond, Carson and Honorable. On April 1, 2009, the American Civil Liberties Union's Racial Justice Program, . In Village of Hoffman Estates v. Flipside, Hoffman Estates, Inc.,455 U.S. 489, 102 S. Ct. 1186, 71 L. Ed. Based upon the evidence, this court concludes that Ms. Howell asked the School Board to allow her son to withdraw from school based upon the advice she received from Dr. Norman. Overnight, Arndt complied with the court's order and added the race of each expelled student to the face of the document. Moreover, *816 the students were found to have violated two other rules: the rule prohibiting physical confrontation or violence and the rule prohibiting acts that endanger the well-being of students, teachers or other school employees. Roosevelt FULLER, by his parents, Gretta FULLER and Roosevelt Harris, et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. DECATUR PUBLIC SCHOOL BOARD OF EDUCATION SCHOOL DISTRICT 61, et al., Defendants-Appellees. For that reason, the court gave the students wide latitude to fully present their evidence at trial. In separate votes, the Board voted to expel Bond, Carson, and Honorable for 2 years. Boehm testified that it was the only fight of this magnitude he had seen in 27 years in education. This court reemphasizes the fact that the statistics presented at trial were created pursuant to this court's order. Again the Board reviewed the videotape. 403 v. Fraser, 478 U.S. 675, 686, 106 S.Ct. of EDU. at 444-45. The most publicized and heinous type of personal violence that has transpired within school settings is events involving an active shooter(s). 26, 27-28 (2011); India Geronimo, Systemic Failure: Roosevelt Fuller, by His Parents, Gretta Fuller and Roosevelt Harris, et al., Plaintiffs-appellants, v. Decatur Public School Board of Education School District 61, et al., Defendants-appellees, 251 F.3d 662 (7th Cir. As previously noted, the case law is clear that an expulsion hearing is sufficient to meet the procedural due process requirements of the law if the plaintiff knew the charges against him, received notice of the expulsion hearing, and was given a full opportunity to explain his position in an evidentiary hearing. Based upon the foregoing analysis, this court concludes that the students have failed to meet the burden of proving their claims. Co., 264 Ill.App.3d 576, 201 Ill.Dec. The parties shall be responsible for their own court costs. In 2000, the U.S. District . 150, 463 F.2d 763, 767 (7th Cir. At FindLaw.com, we pride ourselves on being the number one source of free legal information and resources on the web. Accordingly, a challenge to a school disciplinary policy fails unless the policy is "wholly arbitrary." A newer version of the Summary was also admitted which had been updated to include two additional expulsions in 1999. The students assert that a "valid inference can be raised by large statistical disparities in racial situations including discipline that a given School District and/or School Board has discriminated intentionally." Fuller ex rel. FULLER v. DECATUR PUBLIC SCHOOL BD. Accord Boucher v. 99 Citing Cases However, Perkins said he voted against the expulsions because he felt they were for too long a period of time. [1] As *828 a result, the students cannot complain that Rule 10 may be vague as applied to others. This court also concludes that the students' reliance on Stephenson is misplaced. Google Scholar. Fuller Elementary located in Raleigh, North Carolina - NC. In Morales, defendants who were convicted of violating Chicago's gang loitering ordinance and were sentenced to jail terms appealed, arguing that the ordinance was unconstitutionally vague. If the students' constitutional rights were violated, expungement might very well be an appropriate equitable remedy. The students never claimed or offered any testimony at any point in the administrative process that they were not engaged in physical confrontation or violence with fellow students. Although we agree that Howell lacks standing, we are not convinced that the other students' request for declaratory relief is moot. The principals of the respective high schools each recommended that the students be expelled for 2 years. ", Third, this court concludes that the students completely failed to establish that the School Board had a "zero tolerance policy." 1186, 71 L.Ed.2d 362 (1982), the Court said: A law that does not reach constitutionally protected conduct and therefore satisfies the overbreadth test may nevertheless be challenged on its face as unduly vague, in violation of due process. Delphine Bond Kendrex (Ms. Kendrex), Bond's mother, testified that she spoke to Elmer McPherson (McPherson), assistant superintendent for the District, on September *823 27, 1999, prior to the date of the hearing set for Bond. Website. Public School Type. 2d at 1066. This court initially notes that each of the students' parent or guardian received the September 23, 1999, letter from Arndt. 438, 443 (N.D.Ill.1994). The six plaintiffs were identified and suspended for 10 days pending further action of the School Board. 2d 320 (1972). Boucher, 134 F.3d at 826-27. You can explore additional available newsletters here. Consequently, this court concludes that Howell lacks standing to be a Plaintiff in this case. Thomas W. Kelty, Michelle L. Proctor, Kelty Law Offices, P.C., Springfield, IL, Michael C. Bruck, Michael T. Beirne, David M. Jenkins, Melissa M. Riahei, Quinlan & Crisham, Ltd., Chicago, IL, for defendants. (1) Judgment is entered in favor of Defendants and against the students on all counts of the students' First Amended Complaint. The court determined in that case, where the expelled student did not engage in any kind of violent activity, that the district court did not adequately consider the potential harm to the Board's authority to take disciplinary action for what it believed to be a serious threat to school property.

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