Posted on 05/01/2009 8:05:12 PM PDT by MtnClimber
Criminal charges against a junior at Dakota Ridge High School, who wore a T-shirt saying "NOBAMA" before an appearance and speech last fall by Michelle Obama at the school, were dropped Thursday.
Blake Benson, 17, was one of three students at the school who chose to "stay and campaign" for Sen. John McCain when Michelle Obama spoke at the school on Nov. 3.
At the time of his arrest, Benson was holding a McCain-Palin campaign sign.
He was handcuffed and taken to the school's administrative office, said Dan Recht, a Denver lawyer who took the case on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union, which represented Benson.
Benson was given a "promise to appear" citation by a Jefferson County sheriff's deputy and accused of "interference with staff of an educational facility," said Recht. The Jefferson County Sheriff's Department decided not to forward the citation to prosecutors, effectively dropping the case.
Recht said Benson also was given a one-day suspension by the school. Shortly after the incident, the school rescinded the suspension.
Recht said he learned Thursday that authorities would not pursue the interference charge.
"There is no more classically protected speech than peacefully protesting against one candidate and for another," said Recht. "What Blake Benson was doing is as American as apple pie."
Jacki Kelley, spokesperson for the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department, said that the decision to drop the charge was made three weeks after the incident after a consultation with the Jefferson County district attorney's office.
(Excerpt) Read more at denverpost.com ...
No mention of searches of the faculty parking lot in search of anti-Bush bumper stickers!
They’re clearly afraid of a large civil suit. The kid should definitely get a good lawyer and make the school district pay, pay, pay. How else will these abusers learn?
If Presidents and Candidates are going to go to high schools (any schools) and speak OR campaign.....then any student should be able to “speak” about the candidate....or policies.....
That this student was HANDCUFFED because of his NOBAMA shirt and McCain sign is an abomination....where is the INDIGNATION? Heads should roll.....WHO called the police? Or was it Obama’s Secret Service who ordered him cuffed? HHMMMMM
They should waterboard students who don’t bow down to the new messiah.
Assuming that this details all the kid was doing, just wearing a shirt. It seems to me this is about as open and shut case of the State violating someone's most basic and elementary of civil rights.
If this were a black kid with a NOMCCAIN shirt who was arrested, I don't think that there would be any doubt that the FBI would have opened an investigation.
Personally, I'm sick and tired of libs getting away with this kind of thing. I usually don't go in for suing people... But in this case, I'd go after the school and the police dept. I'd go for compensation deep in the 6 figures, and punitive damages equal to the sum of both the school district's and police dept's annual budgets...times 4 - since it'll be 4 years before he can make a similar statement at another Presidential rally.
“Or was it Obama’s Secret Service who ordered him cuffed? “
Obama did have Secret Service protection then, but he had absolutely no authority to order the agents to do anything at the time of this incident.
The First Amendment is fine, don’t worry ... “Dissent is Patriotic”. There is no “chill wind”.
, but they may have added some trumped up disobedience charges, back in the 60's, the LAPD used to beat people up for talking back and then arrest them for assault on an officer or disturbing the peace
Arrest under false pretense is all it takes. The arrest doesn't have to lead to a trial, or even an arraignment. If the charges are later dismissed or dropped by prosecutors, it doesn't change the fact that he was unjustly arrested in the first place. What the police did was to deprive this kid's of his rights under the color of law. That's a Federal offense, period.
Now they can use Napolitano’s DHS garbage report to classify him a right wing extremist.
I’m happily surprised to learn that the ACLU came to his defense.
I had not heard of this story. All he did was show up in a Mc/P shirt or is there more to it? If so, that’s absolutely ridiculous.
SUE, SUE, SUE and I’m not talking about the name of a girl in a song.
I cannot believe that this is happening in our Republic. They are trying to take from us our most basic rights.
SUE, SUE, SUE and I’m not talking about the name of a girl in a song.
Holy mackerel -- pigs are on the wing!
You don’t get it. The Secret Service would protect Michelle Obama the way they would protect Mrs. Bush. Don’t know what the kid actually did. If as reported he stood quietly with signs, they would have no cause for restraining him. If he was going against school policy, he should have simply been removed from the room BY SCHOOL STAFF.
They are trying to take from us our most basic rights.
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Part of the radical socialist agenda. Very Marxist, I would add.
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