Pubdate: Sun, 04 May 2014
Source: Press-Enterprise (Riverside, CA)
Copyright: 2014 The Press-Enterprise Company
Contact: http://www.pe.com/localnews/opinion/letters_form.html
Website: http://www.pe.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/830
Author: Sarah Burge

SCHOOL DISTRICT SUES COUNTY AFTER DRUG BUST

The Temecula Valley School District has sued Riverside County and the
Sheriff's Department in connection with an ongoing lawsuit by a
student who was arrested in an undercover school drug bust.

The teen, who is autistic, sued the district in October, almost a year
after he was accused of selling a small amount of marijuana to a
deputy posing as a student at Chaparral High School. His lawsuit
accuses officials of negligence, alleging district officials
authorized a drug sting targeting the teen even though they knew he
suffers from disabilities and was in special education.

In a cross-complaint filed Wednesday, April 28, the school district
contends that the county and Sheriff's Department should be held
responsible for any damages. Though district officials deny the
student's allegations, the county and Sheriff's Department should be
required to cover the district's costs if it is found liable, the
lawsuit says.

The district cites a contract that it says stipulated the Sheriff's
Department would assume liability for any legal issues arising from
the undercover operation. The court filing doesn't include a copy of
the contract or describe it in detail.

School district officials referred requests for comment to their
attorney, who could not be reached Friday.

Ray Smith, a county spokesman, said by email that he could not confirm
whether the county had been officially served with the court papers,
adding "once that happens, counsel will review the filing and the
county will determine the best way to proceed."

Sheriff's officials declined to comment.

The teen's parents, Catherine and Doug Snodgrass, have said their son
is "permanently scarred" from the drug sting and its aftermath. They
said they hope the lawsuit will send a message to schools around the
country that such drug busts will not be tolerated.

The Sheriff's Department has been conducting undercover drug
investigations in high schools for the past few years. In cooperation
with the school districts, sheriff's officials select two schools each
year, placing an undercover deputy at each. The deputies spend the
fall semester trying to buy drugs from students, and the operations
culminate with mass arrests on campus.

The high school investigations didn't attract a lot of attention until
last year, when the Snodgrasses began speaking out against the
investigation that snared their son. The story made national news.

The parents have said the deputy's tactics were inappropriate in light
of their son's marked disabilities. In addition to autism, they said,
he also has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and other impulse and
anxiety disorders.

The Snodgrasses said their son was never a drug dealer. Rather, he was
hounded by the undercover deputy to get him marijuana and, desperate
for a friend, he eventually complied, the parents said.

The parents contested a move by the district to expel their son,
arguing that his conduct was affected by his disability and that the
district failed to provide him with needed counseling. An
administrative judge agreed and ordered the district to reinstate him.

A juvenile court judge dismissed the criminal charges against the teen
in July after a six-month probationary period, his parents said.

The teen graduated from Chaparral last semester.

The case echoed concerns about undercover school drug busts in Los
Angeles a decade ago that led to the demise of the school buy program
there.

The Los Angeles Police Department pioneered undercover drug busts in
high schools in the '70s. But the department discontinued its program
after Los Angeles Unified School District officials noticed an
increasing number of students arrested were in special education and
that police typically found very small amounts of marijuana. District
officials feared the program was failing to catch the serious drug
dealers and that the problems with the program outweighed its benefits.

[sidebar]

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

An autistic teen arrested in an undercover drug sting at a Temecula
high school sued the school district last year

The teen's parents have said their son was never a drug dealer and
that the district-sanctioned operation should not have targeted a
student who suffers from serious disabilities

Now the Temecula Valley School District has sued Riverside County and
the Sheriff's Department alleging they should be held liable for any
damages
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