New Jersey Woman Protects Daughter, Gets Prosecuted By School

A parent who stands up for her school-age daughter and curses out a school principal is facing prosecution in Hasbrouck Heights, NJ for disorderly conduct, according to this  report in the Record of Hackensack, NJ.

 

The school district apparently drew the mother's ire after her daughter was humiliated when some male classmates pulled her pants down in front of other students.  The mother was not satisfied with the school's response at an anti-bullying forum and felt she had to stand up for her daughter.   The school district responded -- not by addressing the boys' behavior -- but by filing the criminal complaint against the mother.

 

The school district calls this woman a criminal.   I say she is a good mother.  The girl should be proud to have a mother who stood up for her -- albeit in a less than diplomatic way.   While the mother could be criticized for her manner or form, the school officials should be called onto the carpet to explain their decision to prosecute the mother.  Do not hold your breath. 

 

New Jersey has hundreds of small towns, and there is little effective accountability.   Hence, public employees often adopt a sense of entitlement and believe they can act with relative impunity.  The school district's decision to go after this woman reeks of a clear abuse of authority where someone on the public payroll is using taxpayer money to satisfy his ego and bully a poor woman whose only desire was to protect her daughter, and whose real offense seems to be that she embarrassed some officials.   Several years ago, a former state Attorney General named Zulima Farber was forced to resign by then-Governor Corzine when she threw her weight around to help her boyfriend, another lawyer named Hamlet Goore.

 

Public criticism is part of the territory for public employees.   The thin-skinned should go to the private sector.  Until then, we will see these bullying tactics by these small-town vassals with inflated egos and images of themselves.  And the funny thing is, these same officials who like to push people around are the same punks who cannot take it when someone gives them their own medicine.    They seem able to throw a punch, but can't take one back.

 

New Jersey recognizes a state tort action for "malicious prosecution" and it would be worthwhile to see if such a case can be brought on behalf of this poor woman.   Some of these punk public employees need to be thrown into a boxing ring and told it's an ultimate fighting match, not a sparring session with a punching bag.