School Hands 13-Year-Old Over to Cops for a Doodle of a Man Hanging, Lawsuit Alleges

Another child victim of zero tolerance
policies by schools around the country. The law of
contagion led to a freak out over a 13-year-old boy’s doodle at
a school in Beaverton, Oregon. Via
Courthouse News Service:

[Robert] Keller, suing for himself and his son, B.R.K.,
claims that on May 2, 2013, his 13-year-old son “was interviewed at
his school, Raleigh Hills, K-8, by officers of the Beaverton Police
Department regarding an alleged threat of harm based on a doodle
[showing a person being hanged ] that was drawn during class.
B.R.K. was removed from his classroom and placed in the principal’s
office of Raleigh Hills K-8 to be questioned about offenses that he
was alleged to have committed…”

The doodling incident occurred on April 30. Keller says his son
was suspended pending a “risk assessment” and that despite telling
the school they were not allowed to interview his son without a
parent present, a school psychologist and police interviewed the
boy. Keller is seeking $100,000 for violations of his son’s Fourth
and 14th Amendment rights.