Prosecutor: Georgia law allows abusive teacher to escape punishment

[Suzanimal]

Disgusting excuse for a human being...

ATLANTA (WXIA) -- Two years ago, Melanie Pickens was arrested and indicted for 11 counts of child abuse. But, so far at least, the courts have ruled that she can't be prosecuted -- because, as an educator, Georgia law gives her immunity.

That also means, according to Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard, it also gave her a license to hurt defenseless special needs kids.

"If we can get some justice, if we can get some justice for the pain we suffered; that we are suffering and we continue suffer, that would help," said mother Franka Persadi.

Persadi speaks deliberately in a thick and elegant patois, controlling the anger and pain welling within her. Her eyes well and overflow with tears. Indeed, the crying has never stopped -- ever since that day she learned Pickens, her daughter's teacher, was running what prosecutors and parents believe was a classroom of horrors.

"All these families have been affected; eight families," she said. "And our lives will never ever be the same again. The hopes and dreams that I had that she would go forward, that she would learn, that she would do something -- it didn't happen."

Her daughter Repheka, who has Downs Syndrome, was 13 when she had Pickens for a teacher -- a teacher accused of degrading and abusing and tormenting special needs kids for years at Hopewell Middle School in Fulton County.

Knowing that Pickens may never be prosecuted makes Persadi afraid that it is now open season on disabled children.

"If you abuse an animal they put you in jail," she said angrily. "But these are human beings -- human beings that they have no kind of care for. They treat dogs and cats better than they have treated us."

Persadi says she will never know what her daughter witnessed in that room. But what she does know sickens her, like the allegation that Pickens sprayed Lysol on Repheka's privates.

"And it's so unfair and unjust that you try not to focus on it. You just try to move on," she said.

Pickens' defense attorney, B.J. Bernstein said that despite the emotion of the case, the law is clear. But the families involved say that does not make it right.

http://www.11alive.com/story/news/lo...kids/24544101/

Some background: Melanie Pickens was granted immunity from criminal prosecution by a judge based on charges that she punished disabled students by isolating them in dark bathrooms, playing back recorded screams into their ears and slamming them into lockers. The judge based his decision on state law, which protects teachers when they discipline students as long as their actions were done in “good faith.” Teachers are protected by state law because they need to be able to take appropriate disciplinary action without having to face potential lawsuits or criminal charges.

http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/get-schoo...-case-sends-w/

[fisharmor]

First thought: No, punishing this teacher isn't going to provide justice. It's not going to un-abuse these kids, and it's not going to make it up to them. All it's going to do is spread more misery.

Second thought: Yeah, they're treating special needs kids like animals. This is to be expected. We need to be acclimated to this, because unless someone starts investigating actual causes and cures (instead of throwing them into the gigantic "special needs" bucket and forgetting about them), then they're going to start getting euthanized as soon as they become a significant drain on tax income (sometime after they hit maybe 15% of all children). Treating them like animals is a necessary first step.

Third thought: You send your kid to prison for half her life, and yeah, she's going to get treated like an animal.

[phill4paul]

This teacher wishes she lived in GA.....

She Showed a Horror Movie to High Schoolers And Now She’s Going to Jail
Substitute teacher Sheila Kearns did a very stupid thing when she showed a horror movie to a Columbus, Ohio high school class. But she doesn’t deserve to go to jail.

In the 1987 comedy Summer School, hapless teacher Freddy Shoop allows an in-class screening of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. His matinee is interrupted by the principal who is visibly disgusted by the on-screen carnage. He leaves the classroom shaking his head. Kids these days...

A similar scenario played out in April 2013, when substitute teacher Sheila Kearns showed the 2012 horror film The ABCs of Death to a Spanish class at East High School in Columbus, Ohio. The viewing lead to a Kafka-esque scenario which culminated on Wednesday in a 90-day jail sentence for Kearns who was convicted of disseminating material harmful to juveniles, a felony.

The ABCs of Death is a compilation of 26 short films—each loosely inspired by a letter in the alphabet—the movie brings together some of the modern horror film’s most talented writers and directors. The quality of the segments vary wildly, but the net effect is raw and visceral. Topics include torture, sexual assault, castration, supersonic farts, and animated feces.

Kearns showed abysmal judgment—although she maintained throughout her trial she was unaware of the film’s content. She should never be allowed near a classroom again. But jail? These were high schoolers. Not kindergarteners.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/article...DB&via=FB_Page

[Suzanimal]

First thought: No, punishing this teacher isn't going to provide justice. It's not going to un-abuse these kids, and it's not going to make it up to them. All it's going to do is spread more misery.

If the bitch did that to one of my kids, I'd spread some misery on her ass, just sayin'...

Second thought: Yeah, they're treating special needs kids like animals. This is to be expected. We need to be acclimated to this, because unless someone starts investigating actual causes and cures (instead of throwing them into the gigantic "special needs" bucket and forgetting about them), then they're going to start getting euthanized as soon as they become a significant drain on tax income (sometime after they hit maybe 15% of all children). Treating them like animals is a necessary first step.

Agreed. It's disgusting.

Third thought: You send your kid to prison for half her life, and yeah, she's going to get treated like an animal.

Truth. I wonder how many of these parents pulled their children out of the system.

[kcchiefs6465]

First thought: No, punishing this teacher isn't going to provide justice. It's not going to un-abuse these kids, and it's not going to make it up to them. All it's going to do is spread more misery.

Ideally then, what is the proper response?

[Suzanimal]

Ideally then, what is the proper response?

Financial restitution and a can of whoopass.