IP: is this America?: WSJ Opinion Journal

[David Farber <dave@farber.net>]

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>Hi Dave,
>
>For IP, if you deem it relevant.
>
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>Jamus Jerome Lim
>Regional Economic Studies
>Institute of Southeast Asian Studies
>
>- -snip-
>
>Zero-Tolerance Watch
>(http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/2001/departments/2001_06_28/upfront_1.h
>tml)
>
>That same question--is this America?--came to mind when we read this
>horrifying story from the Las Vegas Weekly. It seems that a
>14-year-old boy, whom the paper identifies by the pseudonym "Joseph
>K.," was arrested at school and jailed for 10 days. Every time his
>grandparents, who are his legal guardians, came to visit him in
>prison, he was invasively strip-searched. Police didn't even tell him
>why until he'd been arrested until he'd been behind bars for three
>days.
>
>So what was his crime? A couple of girls had called to ask him to
>hang out. He said no, and they called back 15 minutes later.
>Irritated, he told them, "It's people like you who get on the
>Columbine lists." After his arrest, the Weekly reports:
>
>School police also found in Joseph K.'s locker and backpack more
>"evidence:" a class report he'd been writing about the Holocaust,
>which included sketches of Nazi symbols. Also taken was an essay he'd
>written for another class, answering the question: What's the biggest
>problem facing schools today? Joseph K.'s essay focused on school
>violence.
>
>After questioning the teen--Is he depressed? Did he have a "list?"
>Did he hate anyone?--police took him to his grandparents' house,
>grandpa signed a consent form specifically letting them search Joseph
>K.'s room, according to the grandfather. They not only searched the
>kid's room, including his computer files and email, they also went
>through grandpa's closet, where they found his shotgun. They took it
>and the boy's BB-gun.
>
>Prosecutors charged him with "harassment," then dropped the charges
>two months later. But  Woodbury Middle School
>(http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/in-depth/schools/2000/middle/woodbury.h
>tml) nonetheless kicked him out for a quarter. His grandparents were
>also told that he fits the "profile" of a school shooter. What would
>that profile be? "He's well-groomed, gets good grades and is
>well-liked."



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