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| South Carolina Law on Disrupting School Faces Legal Challenge | South Carolina Law on Disrupting School Faces Legal Challenge |
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| The video was startling and soon went viral: A white sheriff’s deputy in a South Carolina high school drags a black girl from her desk, slams her to the floor and then handcuffs her. The girl’s crime? She had refused a teacher’s order to put away her cellphone, then refused an order to leave the classroom. | The video was startling and soon went viral: A white sheriff’s deputy in a South Carolina high school drags a black girl from her desk, slams her to the floor and then handcuffs her. The girl’s crime? She had refused a teacher’s order to put away her cellphone, then refused an order to leave the classroom. |
| Taped by fellow students at Spring Valley High School in Columbia, that jolting encounter last October was widely condemned as police overkill. It led to the officer’s rapid dismissal, a federal civil rights investigation and national reflection on the line between youthful misbehavior and criminal activity, and on the proper role of police in the schools. | Taped by fellow students at Spring Valley High School in Columbia, that jolting encounter last October was widely condemned as police overkill. It led to the officer’s rapid dismissal, a federal civil rights investigation and national reflection on the line between youthful misbehavior and criminal activity, and on the proper role of police in the schools. |
| But the incident also threw into relief South Carolina’s harsh “disturbing schools” law, which makes it a crime “to disturb in any way or in any place the students or teachers of any school” or “to act in an obnoxious manner.” | But the incident also threw into relief South Carolina’s harsh “disturbing schools” law, which makes it a crime “to disturb in any way or in any place the students or teachers of any school” or “to act in an obnoxious manner.” |
| Now that law, which some legal experts say may be the broadest and vaguest of its kind in the country, is being challenged in a federal lawsuit filed Thursday. One of the plaintiffs is Niya Kenny, a classmate of the defiant girl in the video, who stood and yelled curses at the officer for his rough behavior. Both girls were arrested and criminally charged with disrupting class. | Now that law, which some legal experts say may be the broadest and vaguest of its kind in the country, is being challenged in a federal lawsuit filed Thursday. One of the plaintiffs is Niya Kenny, a classmate of the defiant girl in the video, who stood and yelled curses at the officer for his rough behavior. Both girls were arrested and criminally charged with disrupting class. |
| In an interview this week, Ms. Kenny, now 18, described her turmoil as she was handcuffed at school and taken in a paddy wagon to spend several hours at an adult detention center where she was fingerprinted and had a mug shot taken — all, she said, because she stood up for her classmate. | |
| “I was just terrified through the whole day,” she recalled. | “I was just terrified through the whole day,” she recalled. |
| According to Ms. Kenny’s account and the police report of her arrest, she did nothing to physically interfere with the sheriff’s deputy as he grabbed and slammed her classmate. “I was cursing at him and saying it was unfair,” she recalled. | According to Ms. Kenny’s account and the police report of her arrest, she did nothing to physically interfere with the sheriff’s deputy as he grabbed and slammed her classmate. “I was cursing at him and saying it was unfair,” she recalled. |
| More than 1,200 students, disproportionately black, are arrested under this law each year, according to state data, for everything from disobeying a teacher’s order to fighting in the hallway. For many, like Ms. Kenny, it means a first, stinging encounter with the criminal justice system, bringing the stigma of an arrest record and often derailing their schooling — a potential step in what has been described nationally as a pernicious “schools to prison pipeline.” | More than 1,200 students, disproportionately black, are arrested under this law each year, according to state data, for everything from disobeying a teacher’s order to fighting in the hallway. For many, like Ms. Kenny, it means a first, stinging encounter with the criminal justice system, bringing the stigma of an arrest record and often derailing their schooling — a potential step in what has been described nationally as a pernicious “schools to prison pipeline.” |
| With its vague evocation of criminal acts, the law “creates an impossible standard for school children to follow and for police to enforce with consistency and fairness,” according to the suit, which was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of several students. | With its vague evocation of criminal acts, the law “creates an impossible standard for school children to follow and for police to enforce with consistency and fairness,” according to the suit, which was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of several students. |
| The statute “sweeps within the purview of criminal law and the court system a broad swath of adolescent behavior,” according to the complaint, filed in the Charleston division of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina. It asks that the law be thrown out as an unconstitutional violation of due process under the 14th Amendment. | The statute “sweeps within the purview of criminal law and the court system a broad swath of adolescent behavior,” according to the complaint, filed in the Charleston division of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina. It asks that the law be thrown out as an unconstitutional violation of due process under the 14th Amendment. |
| Matt Orr, a spokesman for the South Carolina attorney general’s office, said Thursday that officials were reviewing the complaint and could not comment further on pending litigation. | Matt Orr, a spokesman for the South Carolina attorney general’s office, said Thursday that officials were reviewing the complaint and could not comment further on pending litigation. |
| Students through age 16 are charged under the law as juveniles, their cases handled in family court. Those who are 17 or older are charged as adults. | Students through age 16 are charged under the law as juveniles, their cases handled in family court. Those who are 17 or older are charged as adults. |
| African-American students are four times as likely as white students to be charged, state records indicate, and across the state, as a result of the vagueness in the law, the same act can draw a verbal warning in one school and a criminal charge in another. | African-American students are four times as likely as white students to be charged, state records indicate, and across the state, as a result of the vagueness in the law, the same act can draw a verbal warning in one school and a criminal charge in another. |
| Conviction can result in detention of up to 90 days and a $1,000 fine, but the more common results are diversion to counseling, probation or placement in special disciplinary schools. | Conviction can result in detention of up to 90 days and a $1,000 fine, but the more common results are diversion to counseling, probation or placement in special disciplinary schools. |
| While about 18 states have laws specifically covering disruption of schools, most focus on acts by non-students or more precisely defined criminal acts, said Josh Gupta-Kagan, an expert on juvenile justice at the University of South Carolina School of Law. | While about 18 states have laws specifically covering disruption of schools, most focus on acts by non-students or more precisely defined criminal acts, said Josh Gupta-Kagan, an expert on juvenile justice at the University of South Carolina School of Law. |
| “South Carolina’s law is broader than what you see in other states,” he said. | “South Carolina’s law is broader than what you see in other states,” he said. |
| Criminalizing matters of school discipline can have destructive lifelong effects on young people, Mr. Gupta-Kagan noted, citing evidence that when children are arrested and have even a single court appearance they are less likely to graduate from high school and more likely to have further brushes with the law. | Criminalizing matters of school discipline can have destructive lifelong effects on young people, Mr. Gupta-Kagan noted, citing evidence that when children are arrested and have even a single court appearance they are less likely to graduate from high school and more likely to have further brushes with the law. |
| In the October incident, the girl dragged from her desk was a juvenile and the status of her prosecution is confidential. But Ms. Kenny was 17 — an adult in state criminal court — so her case is in the public record. | In the October incident, the girl dragged from her desk was a juvenile and the status of her prosecution is confidential. But Ms. Kenny was 17 — an adult in state criminal court — so her case is in the public record. |
| She did not expect the deputy to follow through on his threat to arrest her, she said, but when he re-entered the classroom moments after taking out the first girl, she stood up and put her hands behind her back, submitting to cuffing without a struggle. She said that she cried and her knees buckled as she walked past teachers and other students to the paddy wagon. | She did not expect the deputy to follow through on his threat to arrest her, she said, but when he re-entered the classroom moments after taking out the first girl, she stood up and put her hands behind her back, submitting to cuffing without a struggle. She said that she cried and her knees buckled as she walked past teachers and other students to the paddy wagon. |
| After the arrest, a school official told her mother that she would probably be expelled. In the end she was not, but she felt “humiliated and fearful of returning to school,” she said, and her mother also advised against returning to a place where she could be arrested for no reason. She withdrew and obtained a G.E.D. at an adult education center. | After the arrest, a school official told her mother that she would probably be expelled. In the end she was not, but she felt “humiliated and fearful of returning to school,” she said, and her mother also advised against returning to a place where she could be arrested for no reason. She withdrew and obtained a G.E.D. at an adult education center. |
| “Because of this incident, I missed out on my last year of high school,” she said in a statement appended to the lawsuit. “I did not have the opportunity to go the prom with the people I have been in school with since the ninth grade, and I did not get to attend graduation with my classmates.” | “Because of this incident, I missed out on my last year of high school,” she said in a statement appended to the lawsuit. “I did not have the opportunity to go the prom with the people I have been in school with since the ninth grade, and I did not get to attend graduation with my classmates.” |
| The charge against Ms. Kenny is pending in court, with a hearing scheduled in September. | The charge against Ms. Kenny is pending in court, with a hearing scheduled in September. |
| Outrage over the October incident led to efforts this spring to amend the disputed disturbing-schools law. A proposal sponsored by State Representative Mia S. McLeod, a Democrat of Richland County, would apply sanctions to outsiders who disrupt schools, but not to existing students. | Outrage over the October incident led to efforts this spring to amend the disputed disturbing-schools law. A proposal sponsored by State Representative Mia S. McLeod, a Democrat of Richland County, would apply sanctions to outsiders who disrupt schools, but not to existing students. |
| “Law enforcement officers should be called in to deal with real criminal acts, not ordinary disciplinary issues,” Ms. McLeod said in an interview. Her bill gained bipartisan support but stalled when a prosecutor and a sheriff’s group defended the law as a necessary tool in an era when more children refuse to obey the rules. | “Law enforcement officers should be called in to deal with real criminal acts, not ordinary disciplinary issues,” Ms. McLeod said in an interview. Her bill gained bipartisan support but stalled when a prosecutor and a sheriff’s group defended the law as a necessary tool in an era when more children refuse to obey the rules. |
| Jarrod Bruder, executive director of the state sheriff’s association, told legislators that while the definition of disturbing schools should be sharpened, the law allowed officers to arrest misbehaving students on minor charges rather than considering more serious charges like assault. | Jarrod Bruder, executive director of the state sheriff’s association, told legislators that while the definition of disturbing schools should be sharpened, the law allowed officers to arrest misbehaving students on minor charges rather than considering more serious charges like assault. |
| Ms. McLeod is now running for the State Senate for the district that includes Spring Valley High School. She said she hoped to revive the bill next year. | Ms. McLeod is now running for the State Senate for the district that includes Spring Valley High School. She said she hoped to revive the bill next year. |
| Even as debate continues over the criminal law, state education officials, in another response to the October incident, are developing new guidelines for school-based police officers and disciplinary procedures. | Even as debate continues over the criminal law, state education officials, in another response to the October incident, are developing new guidelines for school-based police officers and disciplinary procedures. |
| On Tuesday, after months of deliberations by an advisory group, the State Board of Education gave tentative approval to a plan that would limit officers’ involvement in disciplinary issues that do not involve serious crimes or threats to safety, and provide new rankings for student infractions and appropriate punishments. The proposed changes could go before the legislature for approval next year. | On Tuesday, after months of deliberations by an advisory group, the State Board of Education gave tentative approval to a plan that would limit officers’ involvement in disciplinary issues that do not involve serious crimes or threats to safety, and provide new rankings for student infractions and appropriate punishments. The proposed changes could go before the legislature for approval next year. |