[Rhodes22-list] Has The World Gone Mad?

[Brad Haslett]

Rummy,

Perhaps this could be part of the problem (see attached article).  Some of
the trouble with public schools is that the administrators have become
beholden to too many outside entities other than the people who "own" the
school in the first place, ie, the local taxpayers. Show me a public school
where the parents and locals have an interest in the local school board and
I'll show you a school that works. Public schools are supposed to be locally
funded and controlled, perhaps these A-holes in Galveston don't think
they're accountable.  I hope the idiot principal in Illinois gets tossed by
the locals.

Brad

-------------------

GISD moves ahead with threat to sue parent

  By Rhiannon Meyers<http://blogs.galvnews.com/contact.lasso?ewcd=d3b50f42b8a6ebaa14db3521c84fef258a570c787301de7e2c826107fc48e676>
The Daily News

Published October 31, 2007
GALVESTON — The public school district has officially demanded that parent
Sandra Tetley remove what it says is libelous material from her Web site or
face a lawsuit for defamation.

Tetley received a letter Monday from the district's law firm demanding she
remove what it termed libelous statements and other "legally offensive"
statements posted by her or anonymous users, and refrain from allowing such
postings in the future. If she refuses, the district plans to sue her, the
demand letter states.

Tetley said she'll review the postings cited by David Feldman of the
district's firm Feldman and Rogers. She'll consider the context of the
postings and consult attorneys before deciding what to delete.

"If it's not worth keeping in there, I'll take it out," she said. "If in
fact it is libelous, I have no problem taking it down."

Libel Or Opinion?

Feldman said Tetley's Web site — www.gisdwatch.com — contained the most
"personal, libelous invective directed toward a school administrator" he's
seen in his 31-year career.

"It is not the desire of the School District, the Board, or this Firm to
stifle free expression or inhibit robust debate regarding matters pertaining
to the operation of the public schools," Feldman wrote in the demand letter.
"This is solely about the publication of materials that clearly go beyond
that which is legally and constitutionally encouraged and permitted, and
into the realm of what is legally offensive and actionable."

Feldman cited 16 examples of what he says are libelous postings. Half were
posted by Tetley; the other half were posted by anonymous users.

The postings accuse Superintendent Lynne Cleveland, trustees and
administrators of lying, manipulation, falsifying budget numbers, using
their positions for "personal gain," violating the Open Meetings Act and
spying on employees, among other things.

Tetley said the postings were opinions only.

"Everyone deserves to have their opinion," she said. "I don't think they
have a right to make me, or anyone else, take down criticisms of them off
the Web site. They're not going to force us to take off our opinions because
we have no other place to go."

Tetley said she had not removed any of the postings as of late Tuesday.

Rare Move

One legal expert said the district's move to sue Tetley is rare and
unlawful. Under the 1964 Supreme Court case New York Times v. Sullivan,
government entities cannot sue for libel — any court would toss out the
"threatening" suit as being inconsistent with U.S. law, said Sandra Baron,
executive director of New-York based Media Law Resource Center. She called
the district's potential lawsuit an intimidation tactic and a waste of
taxpayer dollars.

Feldman said the district is only asking Tetley to remove a small percentage
of postings on her site that he says accuse trustees and administrators of
breaking the law. They're not trying to shut down the blog or eliminate
postings, he said.

"How can that be threatening or initmidating?" he said. "There's a
tremendous amount of dialogue, if you will, on that Web log that we're not
touching with a pole ... What we leave is this huge field of free expression
and discourse. There's debate and then there's libel. Debate all you want,
criticize all you want, but don't accuse people of committing crimes when
you have absolutely no evidence to support that."

More than 130 registered users post on Tetley's site. Since trustees
threatened legal action, more people have been visiting the site and
posting, Tetley said. She said she planned to post Feldman's letter on the
site.

"People are very tired of what this type of government is doing," Tetley
said. "They are using our money to silence us."

The law firm monitored the site for months before trustees took action.
Board President David O'Neal said the postings deter potential employees
from working at the district.

Tetley and her group, Galveston Alliance for Neighborhood schools, has long
criticized the district for reconfiguring its middle schools, closing
elementary schools, meeting in executive sessions some claimed were illegal,
refusing to divulge the contents of a letter from a civil rights consultant
and for issuing a budget forecast that was off by $10 million.

The district's controversial reconfiguration, to go into effect in 2008-09,
prompted Tetley to start the site.

It's often difficult to prove a public official has been libeled. Aside from
proving the libelous statements are damaging, public officials must also
prove actual malice. Actual malice means knowing a statement is false or
having reckless disregard for the truth.
------------------------------




On Nov 8, 2007 7:18 AM, <R22RumRunner at aol.com> wrote:

> Brad,
> Obviously this girl has a real social problem that should probably only be
> addressed by the hugging police. Only they will know how to deal with such
> a
> hardened criminal.
>
> Rummy
>
>
>
>
>
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