Teacher handcuffed leaving school board meeting

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

Yes BUT when the officer tells you to go, it's time to go. Even if you think you're in the right, you have to follow the instructions. It can be sorted out later on.

I agree.

 

[Pacolovestacos]

I agree.

Well, IMO, she was in the borderline zone of becoming belligerent with the officer. He told her it was time to leave and she wasn't complying right away. And then when he tried to escort her out, she screamed, "Don't touch me." Not a great way to stay on the officer's good side.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

Well, IMO, she was in the borderline zone of becoming belligerent with the officer. He told her it was time to leave and she wasn't complying right away. And then when he tried to escort her out, she screamed, "Don't touch me." Not a great way to stay on the officer's good side.

I didn’t see all of that. I only saw the video of the arrest and the video of her speaking at the meeting and the officer approaching her.

 

[LSUmiss]

Well, IMO, she was in the borderline zone of becoming belligerent with the officer. He told her it was time to leave and she wasn't complying right away. And then when he tried to escort her out, she screamed, "Don't touch me." Not a great way to stay on the officer's good side.

I’m not 100% sure but I think it was a security guard too. Who showed up to pick her was a parish cop. That’s not what the person who arrested her’s uniform looked like.

 

[Wishing on a star]

I place NO confidence in the news media, but I heard that it was a Resource Officer, being paid by the school.
And, I also saw, again, that little 'look' and 'nod' that appeared to be the one man's directions to this Resource Officer to step in, when the teacher was just in the middle of speaking and voicing her concerns.
No problem or belligerence at that point.

If they had not moved and acted to silence her so quickly, then they might be in the right. But, I think she has a point.

Also, if he did actually touch her, and she had not refused to leave... He really had no right to touch her. It appeared that she was leaving the hall, on her own.

The thing is, while I understand her frustration and anger, I have NO respect for anybody who starts to call out civil, First Amendment, rights, and play that card without very obvious and valid reason.

She has the same first amendment rights as everybody else...
She could get five dozen other teachers and picket and yell and raise he!!, outside of the meeting hall, all she wants.
THAT is what she should have done....

Maybe getting arrested, to bring attention to her cause, was the objective all along.

 

[GreatLakes]

I have serious concerns at the current trend of "charges were dropped" in situations that seem overboard....if the behavior didn't warrant the carrying out of the charged "crime", then why the detainment in the first place?

Because an arrest, being charged, being tried, and being convicted all require different burdens and different people entirely. An arresting officer should not weigh the likeliness of charges being filed (a decision made by someone else) when they detain someone. There are also cases where it isn't any member of the police force or prosecuting authority that makes the call anyway. If a victim isn't cooperating or decides not to press charges that doesn't mean the initial detainment was wrong.

Regardless, whether or not one favours giving the raise to the superintendent should have any bearing on deciding if the teacher was out of order in speaking, or so uch so that she should be removed from the meeting, handcuffed, etc

Except that it was off topic. If she was called on and asked an irrelevant question, as it appears she did, then she was indeed out of order even if called upon. The discussion was about the superintendent's contract and raise and not anyone else, including the teachers. Those are done as a union negotiation and would not be relevant at all to a non-union contract. Well, at least that is how it is set up here.

 

[declansdad]

Yes BUT when the officer tells you to go, it's time to go. Even if you think you're in the right, you have to follow the instructions. It can be sorted out later on.

When a law enforcement officer tells you something, you are supposed to listen. And follow the directives.

She did.

 

[CarolAnn856]

Except that it was off topic. If she was called on and asked an irrelevant question, as it appears she did, then she was indeed out of order even if called upon. The discussion was about the superintendent's contract and raise and not anyone else, including the teachers.

That's an absurdly narrow definition of being on topic.

 

[GreatLakes]

That's an absurdly narrow definition of being on topic.

No it isn't. A discussion about a single contract has nothing to do with other contracts and especially not anything to do with a union negotiated contract where things like cost of living raises would be part of a negotiation, not a board meeting.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Why bother having a public meeting if comments and questions aren't allowed?
Weird.

 

[Pacolovestacos]

She did.

Not immediately. She was quite slow and deliberate.

 

[Wishing on a star]

In what I saw, she was leaving...
Perhaps there was more to that than the clip I saw?
But, she was walking out, on her own volition.

I didn't see it as being slowly enough to be an issue where anyone would have the right to physically use contact.

But, all of that is not 100% clear, from my limited info.

My guess is that there is no actual teachers union in that State.
There are no unions in the Southern States here that I am aware of.
But, yes, obviously, this meeting was not the best, or most correct and appropriate way to address these concerns.

PS: just to throw this out there... based only on perception... not on pertinent facts, This State seems to known for it's extreme levels of political corruption, good-ole-boys networks in charge, etc...

 

[kinntj]

Why bother having a public meeting if comments and questions aren't allowed?
Weird.

She did ask her question, right? We don't know what happened before. Did she ask this before when called on? maybe she already brought this up and they weren't going to go round and round with her.

It's easier to give one person a raise than 100. Just my opinion.

 

[amberpi]

Its super interesting how different the Dis is viewing this vs. people IRL for me. Fascinating.

 

[NHdisneylover]

Its super interesting how different the Dis is viewing this vs. people IRL for me. Fascinating.

how are the people you know in real life viewing it?

 

[amberpi]

how are the people you know in real life viewing it?

There is a teacher's union in TN, and my mother, and 2 of my 3 best friends are teachers. I was with at least 10 teachers NYE alone, so I see a lot of teacher social media. All the teachers I know are in the union. My mom's involved more than that. There is a lot of rallying around this teacher and I'm already seeing memes supporting her everywhere to get better pay for teachers, etc. (No one's arguing with that, right?) What I'm seeing is not really about the teacher, or the specifics of THIS case, it's more about a district with a superintendent getting a huge raise and the teachers not getting one for TEN years. The Dis is looking at this case, IRL I'm seeing it viewed more broadly. Neither view, broad or narrow, is right or wrong of course, just different.

And, blah, blah, blah politics which we can't get into. I'm worn out of viewing these videos to see who could have done what different, right, up, down or sideways, personally. I feel like the story is never complete and I've gotten to the "I can't" point, which is why I haven't been involved in the discussion just reading along both here and elsewhere. The vastly different perspectives are still interesting. I'm not that news weary yet. Can we just talk about crazy families and ocelots maybe? I love ocelots. I bet everyone feels better looking at this guy!

 

[punkin]

Honestly, is no one concerned that a citizen's first amendment rights might have been violated? This is a case where a governmental body had someone arrested for speaking in a public forum.

 

[soccerdad72]

Honestly, is no one concerned that a citizen's first amendment rights might have been violated? This is a case where a governmental body had someone arrested for speaking in a public forum.

Technically, they weren't arrested for speaking. They were asked to leave the meeting for going against the procedures of the meeting. The arrest came afterwards.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Technically she wasn't arrested at all since no charges were brought against her.
'Course that's easier to say when you aren't being handcuffed.

 

[dlavender]

I don't know why they think forcibly removing a teacher from a meeting for asking a question and continuing to talk would be the right decision.

That decision right there proves the guy isn't smart enough to deserve that raise.

And what was the police officer thinking? Is he not able to use judgement? Did he mistake the school board meeting for some kind of violent clash where he needed to be hard nosed and allegedly assault the teacher? He couldn't take a minute, and wait as long as necessary for her to leave? Who cares if it took an hour? Was anyone under impending danger? Did he have to have her out immediately? Can he not assess a situation? Was it worth all this? Sadly for him, the answer is a resounding, "NO".

I really wonder how people can forget to think in these situations.