TRI In The News
Spitball Suspension Under Review by Virginia Supreme Court
10/20/2011
TRI IN THE NEWS: SPITBALL SUSPENSION UNDER REVIEW BY VIRGINIA SUPREME COURT
From The Washington Post
Original article available here.
A student's infamous suspension involving spitballs has finally reached the Virginia Supreme Court, which began hearing oral arguments in the case Tuesday, the Associated Press reports.
Andrew Mikel II was suspended from Spotsylvania High School in December after the 14-year-old used a plastic tube to blow small plastic pellets at fellow students.
Mikel has said it was a stupid prank. School officials called it possession and use of a weapon. Police were called and the boy was charged with three counts of misdemeanor assault. Mikel was also suspended for the remainder of the school year.
According to AP, an attorney for the Rutherford Institute, a Charlottesville constitutional rights group, asked the court to reverse Mikel's suspension, contending that school officials violated his due process rights.
The attorney also said that Mikel didn't intend to hurt anyone and the pellets don't meet the school code's definition of weapons, AP reported.
