— In Alabama, the Supreme Court of Alabama, refused to dismiss a case brought against a county school board for “negligence, wantonness, and negligent or wanton hiring” of a high school principal who assaulted a student. The court ruled that as an agency of the State, a county board of education has Eleventh Amendment immunity from the damages claims insofar as the board was sued in their official capacities. However, the suit could be continued insofar as the board members were sued in their individual capacities. On remand, evidence suggests that the board knew about a pattern of sexual assaults as far back as 1992. Ex Parte Wilcox County Board of Education
— In Delaware, the state legislature is considering a new policy that would make it illegal for police to lie to children during interrogations. House Bill 419 has been approved by the House of Delegates. The state Senate now takes up the proposal that is based on evidence that childrens’ brains are not equipped to handle the stress of police interrogations. If enacted, the new policy will ban the use of deceptive tactics, such as making misleading statements about evidence or offering false promises of leniency to extract a confession or other incriminating evidence from a minor.
— In New York, the officials in the City of Rochester have agreed to an extension of the school resource officer program for the safety of the Rochester Public Schools. The new contract includes revisions designed to “decriminalize normal student behavior” by removing the officers from participation in the school discipline of students.
— In Washington State, the Bellevue School District is launching a new version of the school resource officer program. The revisions change the name, mission and role of the officers who will deploy on the schools. The Community Engagement Officer Program will select and train officers to “to cultivate trusting relationships between students and officers to provide a safe environment with shared problem solving, according to the district.”