JPS Sued over Shackling | Jackson Free Press | Jackson, MS

JPS Sued over Shackling

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A federal judge ruled Monday that Henley-Young Juvenile Justice Center can't block attorneys and advocates from meeting with detained youths.

Claiming alternative school staffers have unconstitutionally punished students over minor offenses, the Southern Poverty Law Center filed a class-action lawsuit against Jackson Public Schools yesterday.

The suit alleges that the Capital City Alternative School uses hours of shackling and handcuffing as punishment for offenses such as not wearing a belt or talking too loudly. The shackled students were then left unsupervised and denied classroom instruction. JPS also refused to respond to a letter asking the district to end the practice, according to an SPLC release.

Previous Comments

ID
163793
Comment

I'm sure this is a systemic problem for JPS that has been going on for awhile, however, once it was brought to Edwards' attention, it should have been something that he addressed with urgency. Just another issue that was not dealt with under his watch. I don't know the answers but I sure as h*ll know that you can't handcuff kids for hours at a time. That says that you didn't have the expertise or the capacity to deal with a problem student.

Author
833WMaple
Date
2011-06-09T08:56:49-06:00

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