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Posted 5/31/11

Legal Idiocy #13: Maryland School’s Policy ‘Prevents … Even a Modicum of Common Sense’

Criticizing Easton High School’s (MD) April 2011 decision to suspend two 17-year-old lacrosse players for possession of a pen knife and lighter—pursuant to the school’s “zero tolerance” policy on weapons, and despite the boys’ explanation that the items were used to fix their lacrosse sticks—the Baltimore Sun editorial board writes:

It’s entirely appropriate for Talbot County or any other district to have a policy against deadly weapons at school. The problem is in officials’ insistence that such a policy prevents them from employing even a modicum of common sense. It is a problem not limited to Talbot County; too often, those in a position of authority appear scared to exercise judgment for fear that they will be criticized and instead seem to wish that every conceivable situation they encounter might be addressed by inviolable rules that they can simply follow.