Special Education Law Blog

Miranda Rights and Your Child

Although I am a special education attorney and not a criminal defense attorney, occasionally I receive phone calls from parents who are angry and concerned because their child has been questioned or searched by school officials for disciplinary infractions or worse. Occasionally these incidents involve school resource officers or police, particularly when drugs or alcohol are involved. Fundamentally, these parents want to know:  were my child’s legal rights violated?  Can my child be questioned by the school or police without my knowledge or consent?  Can my child or his or her possessions be searched? This issue comes up a lot and all too often with serious consequences for the student. Schools play on their authority and make false promises to induce "confessions" even from student with language-based disabilities. Criminalization of school students especially those with special needs is large issue that has not been effectively addressed.

The Debate on Reauthorizing NCLB

With a Republican controlled Senate and a Republican controlled House, it appears likely that the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), first enacted in 1965 and re-authorized as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) in 2001, may finally again be re-authorized.  Sen. Lamar Alexander, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP) and Representative John Kline of the House Education and the Workforce Committee have both released new versions of the bill for consideration in this Congress.  But because these bills appear to be watering down many of the accountability provisions of NCLB and lowering expectations for students, civil rights groups and advocacy groups are very concerned about the effect of these bills on disadvantaged students or those with special needs.

Law Enforcement and Disability

The recent deaths of Michael Brown of Ferguson, MO, Eric Garner of New York City, and 12-year-old Tamir Rice of Cleveland have brought to the national consciousness painful questions about race and police response.  Clearly, much hard work needs to be done to examine these questions further and find  solutions.  Although there is no indication that any of these victims had mental health or developmental issues, their deaths beg a subsequent question: “what happens when persons with disabilities or those with mental health issues interact with law enforcement?”  It’s an important question because up to 15% of all 911 calls in our country involve suspects who either have a mental illness or another disability. And the sad answer to the question is that these suspects fare very, very badly. Approximately half of those shot by police in the line of duty are estimated to have had mental health problems or other disabilities.