MN-ACLU sues on behalf of girl who had school "officials" demand her FarceBook password

[Anti Federalist]

FarceBook, again.

*sigh*



Minnesota girl alleges school privacy invasion

http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/10/us/minnesota-student-privacy/index.html

(CNN) -- A Minnesota middle school student, with the backing of the American Civil Liberties Union, is suing her school district over a search of her Facebook and e-mail accounts by school employees.

The 12-year-old sixth grade student, identified in court documents only as R.S., was on two occasions punished for statements she made on her Facebook account, and was also pressured to divulge her password to school officials, the complaint states.

"R.S. was intimidated, frightened, humiliated and sobbing while she was detained in the small school room" as she watched a counselor, a deputy, and another school employee pore over her private communications.

The lawsuit claims that her First Amendment rights were violated by employees at Minnewaska Area Middle School, in west-central Minnesota, as well as her Fourth Amendment rights regarding unreasonable search and seizure.

The Minnewaska School District denies any wrongdoing.

"The district did not violate R.S.'s civil rights, and disputes the one-sided version of events set forth in the complaint written by the ACLU," according to a district statement.

According to the complaint, R.S. felt that one of the school's adult hall monitors was picking on her, so she wrote on her Facebook "wall" that she hated that person because she was mean.

The message was not posted from school property or using any school equipment or connections, the lawsuit states.

Somehow, the school principal got a hold of a screenshot of the message, and punished R.S. with detention and made her apologize to the hall monitor, the complaint says.

She was in trouble again shortly thereafter for another Facebook post, which asked who turned her in, using an expletive for effect, the lawsuit says. She was given in school suspension and missed a class ski trip.

In the third incident, according to the complaint, R.S. was called in by school officials after the guardian of another student complained that R.S. had had a conversation about sex on Facebook.

The girl was called to a meeting with a deputy sheriff, school counselor and an unidentified school employee, the court documents states.

There, she was "intimidated" into giving up her login and passwords to her Facebook and e-mail accounts, the lawsuit says.

"R.S. was extremely nervous and being called out of class and being interrogated," the lawsuit says.

The officials did not have permission from R.S.'s mother to view her private communications, and they gave the girl a hard time about some of the material they discovered, the lawsuit states.

"Students do not shed their First Amendment rights at the school house gate," Charles Samuelson, executive director for the ACLU in Minnesota, said in a statement. "The Supreme Court ruled on that in the 1970s, yet schools like Minnewaska seem to have no regard for the standard."

The school district maintains that such searches did not cross any boundaries.

"The district is confident that once all facts come to light, the district's conduct will be found to be reasonable and appropriate," the district said.

[pcosmar]

The Minnewaska School District denies any wrongdoing.


Why do I find this mantra unsurprising?
:(

[Anti Federalist]

Why do I find this mantra unsurprising?
:(

Yeah, imagine my shock as well.

[VBRonPaulFan]

should've home schooled.

[aGameOfThrones]

The girl was called to a meeting with a deputy sheriff, school counselor and an unidentified school employee, the court documents states.


Really?



"The district is confident that once all facts come to light, the district's conduct will be found to be reasonable and appropriate," the district said.

[donnay]

should've home schooled.

Should be off Facebook! Stop making it easy for the system to track you!!

[aGameOfThrones]

should've home schooled.

She made those comments from home(I assume), so if she knows people from a nearby school and makes similar comments(even though she doesn't go to the school)... they'll send SWAT to her house.

[libertyjam]

I wonder why the lawyers do not bring up the violation of the TOS agreement, maybe since that is a civil matter and ACLU doesn't pursue civil aspects?

[VBRonPaulFan]

Should be off Facebook! Stop making it easy for the system to track you!!

meh, you could make the case for nearly any other technology that we enjoy today. it's not the technology that's necessarily bad - it's the abuse of it by thugs with power who want to stomp all over you. you can't hide from the police state no matter which pages you do or don't visit. you can't hide from spy satellites and surveillance cameras.

[eduardo89]

meh, you could make the case for nearly any other technology that we enjoy today. it's not the technology that's necessarily bad - it's the abuse of it by thugs with power who want to stomp all over you. you can't hide from the police state no matter which pages you do or don't visit. you can't hide from spy satellites and surveillance cameras.

or from the NSA monitoring your calls...

[VBRonPaulFan]

or from the NSA monitoring your calls...

yeah... the answer isn't to stop going to thisplace.com or using phone X or whatever - you need to break the police state and the mentality that some people have that it is a reasonable way to stop the problems we have.

[Chieppa1]

Why are 12 year olds are FB............

[eduardo89]

Why are 12 year olds are FB............

Good point, TOS say you have to be at least 13.

[donnay]

meh, you could make the case for nearly any other technology that we enjoy today. it's not the technology that's necessarily bad - it's the abuse of it by thugs with power who want to stomp all over you. you can't hide from the police state no matter which pages you do or don't visit. you can't hide from spy satellites and surveillance cameras.

A good amount of people on Facebook give out too much personal information--i.e.; address, phone numbers etc... People put out pictures of themselves and their families. I understand if the system wants to get you they can. But why make it easy for them?

[Anti Federalist]

meh, you could make the case for nearly any other technology that we enjoy today. it's not the technology that's necessarily bad - it's the abuse of it by thugs with power who want to stomp all over you. you can't hide from the police state no matter which pages you do or don't visit. you can't hide from spy satellites and surveillance cameras.

I'm not going to quietly comply with it.

I could get through the airport by just shrugging my shoulders at the porno scanners and going through them.

No, our job is to monkey wrench this monstrosity as much as we can, everywhere we can, even it means "inconvenience" for us.

Don't make it easy for the fuckers.

Thats includes just blithely posting every little jot and tittle of your life into a known government monitored database, under your real name, FFS.

[Eagles' Wings]

Why are 12 year olds are FB............

GOod question. I'm even leary of having teens here.

[Agorism]

oops- lost my password.

[pcosmar]

A good amount of people on Facebook give out too much personal information--i.e.; address, phone numbers etc... People put out pictures of themselves and their families. I understand if the system wants to get you they can. But why make it easy for them?
I have a Facebook page. The information is for the most part public record that anyone could find.
It does allow me to put my "spin" on my life though. As well as a bit wider audience for Ron Paul "stuff".

Before I had a computer, when I was refinancing my home,, I kept hearing "If you were online you could do this" from people I was paying to "do stuff". All my info was already there, and the only one that had no access to it was me.

When I sold my house and bought this one,, I did it myself. Online.

[VBRonPaulFan]

I'm not going to quietly comply with it.

I could get through the airport by just shrugging my shoulders at the porno scanners and going through them.

No, our job is to monkey wrench this monstrosity as much as we can, everywhere we can, even it means "inconvenience" for us.

Don't make it easy for the fuckers.

Thats includes just blithely posting every little jot and tittle of your life into a known government monitored database, under your real name, FFS.

I get what you're saying, but i think your anger is misdirected. you're angry at facebook and boycotting it, instead of being pissed at the assholes abusing it. people should be revolting against the crap that many police depts do, and until that happens... it doesn't matter what technology it is - if the police can abuse it and get away with it... they will.

and for the record, the people that post every little thing they do on their facebook are probably the same types of people that sign up for 'car giveaways' and the like at grocery stores, or sign up for freebies online and wonder why they get telemarketing calls at all hours of the day. they're clueless. they don't give out all their personal info because of facebook, they just happen to give their personal info out on facebook along with probably everywhere else in their life.

[bread and circuses]

Schools in general are rife with the same narcissistic bureaucratic mentality as law enforcement. Even when I was in high school (recently), there were teachers who would hover near groups of students at lunch to censor their conversations. :rolleyes:

Also, FWIW, much of Facebook's active disregard for privacy can be thwarted by using a seperate browser.

[Czolgosz]

I get what you're saying, but i think your anger is misdirected. you're angry at facebook and boycotting it, instead of being pissed at the assholes abusing it. people should be revolting against the crap that many police depts do, and until that happens... it doesn't matter what technology it is - if the police can abuse it and get away with it... they will.

and for the record, the people that post every little thing they do on their facebook are probably the same types of people that sign up for 'car giveaways' and the like at grocery stores, or sign up for freebies online and wonder why they get telemarketing calls at all hours of the day. they're clueless. they don't give out all their personal info because of facebook, they just happen to give their personal info out on facebook along with probably everywhere else in their life.


Agreed. Break the system.

[Anti Federalist]

Agreed and my anger goes both ways.

All I'm saying is don't make it easy for the bastards.


I get what you're saying, but i think your anger is misdirected. you're angry at facebook and boycotting it, instead of being pissed at the assholes abusing it. people should be revolting against the crap that many police depts do, and until that happens... it doesn't matter what technology it is - if the police can abuse it and get away with it... they will.

and for the record, the people that post every little thing they do on their facebook are probably the same types of people that sign up for 'car giveaways' and the like at grocery stores, or sign up for freebies online and wonder why they get telemarketing calls at all hours of the day. they're clueless. they don't give out all their personal info because of facebook, they just happen to give their personal info out on facebook along with probably everywhere else in their life.

[donnay]

I have a Facebook page. The information is for the most part public record that anyone could find.
It does allow me to put my "spin" on my life though. As well as a bit wider audience for Ron Paul "stuff".

Before I had a computer, when I was refinancing my home,, I kept hearing "If you were online you could do this" from people I was paying to "do stuff". All my info was already there, and the only one that had no access to it was me.

When I sold my house and bought this one,, I did it myself. Online.

I understand, and we have come a long way with the help of computers. However when computers first started to be used, by the general public, anonymity was there. As time has evolved more and more intrusiveness has been applied to the internet, in the way of conveniences. Most of it is has been voluntary, people say, "I have nothing to hide, my life is an open book."

The bottom line is people need to guard their privacy. It's not a question that people have something to hide that is criminal, it's about criminals taking your information and doing something bad with it. We all have something to hide, it is our privacy!!

The more and more we use this technology and not guarding our privacy, the more and more we are paying for our own enslavement.