New York criminal defense attorneys are learning to represent a new type of criminal: schoolchildren.
And, no, I'm not talking about "criminal schoolchildren" in the Phoebe Prince sense of the word, where incessant bullying leads to suicide. Those children deserve to be penalized.
Rather, I'm talking about the good schoolchildren who get arrested by the poorly trained NYPD "School Security Officers". These children don't deserve to be treated like criminals. Yet, they are handcuffed and arrested.
Take the case of Alexa Gonzalez, for example. The pre-teen was arrested for doodling on her desk. She was slapped with handcuffs and hauled away to the police station.
Now, a Brooklyn girl, I'Mecca Pearson, is settling in her lawsuit against the city for the improper arrest she suffered when she didn't sit down fast enough on a school bus. Pearson was ten years old at the time.
School Security Officers, while not technically police officers, are still under the jurisdiction of the NYPD.
Although both girls filed civil lawsuits against the city, the question of criminal procedure arises for most New York criminal defense lawyers. Unreasonable searches and seizures are prohibited under the Fourth Amendment. An arrest is reasonable if probable cause exists that a crime is being committed.
Well, that's an easy one for New York criminal defense lawyers, you say. Doodling on a desk is not a crime.
It's not as simple. There exist some exceptions in the school environment. As a result, unreasonable arrests may fall into this category. In schools, students to have a limited expectation of privacy and as such, warrants are not always required prior to an arrest or a search.
Thus, NYPD's School Security Officers seemingly have a free pass to arrest students suspected of breaking school rules.
As New York criminal defense attorneys brush up on their criminal procedure, as it applies to school searches and seizures, New York personal injury attorneys are brushing up on their tort law, as they begin bringing lawsuits against the city for a host of tort claims.
If you feel like your child has been wrongly arrested by school security officers, know that you have remedies. Speak to a New York criminal defense attorney if you have questions.
Related Resources
- Can Your Child Be Strip Searched at School? Supreme Court Mulls Issue in Savanna Redding School (FindLaw's Law & Daily Life Blog)
- Schoolgirl's Arrest Raises Liability for NYPD (The New York Personal Injury Law Blog)
- Find New York Criminal Defense Attorneys (FindLaw)
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