Chicago Business Litigation Lawyer Blog
The dismissal of a lawsuit filed against the Irving School District by the father of a child whose homemade clock was mistaken for a bomb. It was alleged that the child’s civil rights were violated when the police charged with the making of a “hoax bomb.” The federal complaint also addressed the issue of taking the child into custody and later dropping the charges. Since it has been determined that the boy and his father are able to amend their lawsuit, they have until June 1 to make changes. For that reason, it is likely that their claim has not ended there.
So the clock ticks and it is likely that a new lawsuit would be filed. The student knew it was not a bomb, never threatened anyone and he never said it was one or alarmed anyone. The lawyer further added that “despite all of those things, they yanked him out of his chair, put him in handcuffs and arrested him. There was no cause for arrest.”
The court rationale in the ruling was that Principals are responsible for the safety of the students and others on campus. Part of that included making decisions for students and in the prospect of death. The school now faces a lawsuit based on the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Judge dismissed the lawsuit indicating that there was no religious or racial discrimination. “Plaintiff does not allege any facts from which this court can reasonably infer that any IISD employee intentionally discriminated against A.M. based on his race or religion,” the Judge wrote in his ruling. This is one reason why facts need to be pleaded properly. In a difficult case, the need of the students and their safety must be weighed against religious and racial profiling. This is the same boy that Obama once applauded and now is being dismissed in a Trump’s America. Mohamed was a 14-year-old freshman when the incident happened at his high school in September 2015. The charge against Mohamed was dropped, and the boy gained public support from President Obama, who invited him to the White House after saying that “we should inspire more kids like you to like science.” Continue reading ›