If in doubt, sue...

[Gob]

The family of a teenager on Long Island says they're suing her school for $2 million after administrators wouldn't publish her poem about George Floyd's death in the school magazine, saying it was 'not appropriate' and possibly 'dangerous.'



On Tuesday, the family of Ruby Ray, 16, a 10th grader at Vandermeulen High School in Port Jefferson, filed a notice of claim in Suffolk County Supreme Court, an action that typically comes ahead of a lawsuit.

Ruby had penned a poem called 'Derek Chauvin's Ode to George Floyd: A Dark Sonnet.' Her parents say Ruby, who is white, is being discriminated against by the mostly white school because her poem 'promoted the cause of African-Americans.'


The notice of claim, which alleges a violation of Ruby's First Amendment rights, came on the one-year anniversary of Floyd's death, although the Ray family chalks that up to being a coincidence.

'I thought this was a free country and you have the right to express yourself in any way you choose,' Ruby told the New York Post.

The notice alleges that administrators at the school banned Ruby's sonnet 'in order to please, protect, promote, placate and defend white racism in Respondents' school and community, and white racism in general.'

The claim asserts Ruby's First Amendment rights have been violated, names the principal of her school, as well as the faculty adviser for the literary magazine and the school district at-large.

The claim mentions that the community and the school district are made up by a large majority of white people: The New York State Education Department says white students made up 81 percent of Vandermeulen High School in the 2019-20 school year.

Meanwhile, black students made up less than 1 percent of the student body last year, according to the Education Department.

The school magazine's faculty adviser, English teacher Matthew Sefick, told Ruby in an email, according to the Post: 'This is an emotionally charged piece no matter how you look at it, and emotions run deep in an audience. … There is no back and forth discussion the way that we are having, and that can be dangerous.'

Principal Eric Haruthunian said the school wouldn't publish the poem, according to an email on Monday seen by the Post. District Superintendent Jessica Schmettan wouldn't comment.

In New York, at least 30 days must pass between a notice of claim and the filing of a lawsuit, giving defendants time to investigate and intervene.

John Ray, Ruby's father and a lawyer, accused the school of being racist in comments to the New York Post.

'It's just racist — that's the only thing driving it,' John said. 'It's a powerful poem. It says what has to be said.'

Ruby's poem is titled 'Derek Chauvin's Ode to George Floyd: A Dark Sonnet,' named in part for the police officer convicted of murder in Floyd's death.

[Bicycle Bill]

Imagine if every writer who ever got a rejection slip from their publisher had tried to file a suit because they wouldn't print their drivel?

Yes she has her First Amendment rights to express herself however she wants... so go ahead and write your poem.
But that doesn't mean that she can force anyone to print and publish it for her.  If she wants it printed, find a publisher who likes it and will do it for you — or else pay for the space to run it in the paper at whatever the ad rates are.

-"BB"-

[MajGenl.Meade]

That poem in full

So then, George
what's that?
I can't hear you
My friend Keith's mum says
the famous Harold
Floyd was silent too
in other movies
Or I may be wrong

[Crackpot]

It really depends on the standard submission and publishing policy of the school. If they have an every submission is published guideline as long as it meets X, Y, and Z standards they have a point.

Still the story feels a lot like white privilege attacking itself.

[Big RR]

Bill--this is not a private publisher, it is a public school which has a lot more restrictions on what it can and cannot do. A private publisher can usually decline to publish for any reason, but a public school (and I am assuming it is a public high school), itgenerally must apply its standards in a content- neutral way. Crackpot makes a good point about its general publishing policies.

[Long Run]

It is too bad that there is no other way for her to get her poem distributed.

[MajGenl.Meade]

One of hers

I’m here
I try
I fight
I lose
You’re gone
You give up
You leave
But still
You win


Not bad for 16

[MajGenl.Meade]

Probably should have just let it be published. Why not?

[Sue U]

It really depends on the standard submission and publishing policy of the school. If they have an every submission is published guideline as long as it meets X, Y, and Z standards they have a point.

Exactly.

Still the story feels a lot like white privilege attacking itself.

Daily Fail/NY Post. All about the framing.

[Sue U]

Probably should have just let it be published. Why not?

Precisely the point of the legal action.

[Gob]

Probably should have just let it be published. Why not?

Because they read it?

[MajGenl.Meade]

Yeah but it's in sonnet form all right. Not worse than my efforts in high school.

[ex-khobar Andy]

14 lines, abab cdcd efef gg - that's the Shakesperian sonnet format. Yes; it's not a first amendment case: but if the school had any brains at all they would have included it. Not sure where the $2 mill comes from because the taxpayers will of course have to come up with it.

[Joe Guy]

Just put it in the next magazine and everyone will know it was published because of the threat of a lawsuit. That will get people talking and end racism. The 16 yr old poet will become a celebrity for having finally solved the problem of racial injustice.

[Sue U]

Yes; it's not a first amendment case

It most certainly is a First Amendment case: it involves action by governmental actors to deny the student's expression on the basis of its content in a forum presumably open to all of the high school's students. With all the bogus freeze peach claims making the rounds of social media, this one actually has a basis in both fact and law (assuming the facts stated in the Notice of Claim to be true).

Not sure where the $2 mill comes from because the taxpayers will of course have to come up with it.

The $2M figure is purely notional. As a general rule of legal pleading, when you make a claim for damages you have to include an "ad damnum" clause that tells the defendant and the court what you are looking for in the way of damages. However, depending on the forum and type of case, some courts prohibit you from pleading an actual number; others require you to plead an actual number; and some require you to plead that your damages are at least in the amount necessary for jurisdiction (e.g., federal courts require an amount in controversy of $75k or more). There are various schools of thought on how to plead specific monetary damages where it is required/permitted. But how much is a violation of your constitutional rights worth? For that matter, how much is a leg fracture worth?

[Burning Petard]

How much is a fractured leg worth? Well Sue, as has been said in many contexts, it all depends.

My wife discovered that in Delaware, having the end of one's fore finger on the right hand crushed and chopped off at the first joint by faulty equipment at work is worth %550.

snailgate

[Gob]

It most certainly is a First Amendment case: it involves action by governmental actors to deny the student's expression on the basis of its content in a forum presumably open to all of the high school's students.

But does t being "open" mean they HAVE to publish it?

They should publish my ode if so;

"George Floyd was a very good man.
Not a drug using woman beater.
Of course this is not true.
But, you know "Black Lives Matter" and that.
My mum likes my poem.
So publish it you wankers."

[Big RR]

Gob--of course not, but the decision to publish or not publish must be consistently made, and publication cannot be refused based on the content of the piece (at least for a public entity). To do any less is to permit the state to control what ideas may be expressed publicly.

[ex-khobar Andy]

The notice alleges that administrators at the school banned Ruby's sonnet 'in order to please, protect, promote, placate and defend white racism in Respondents' school and community, and white racism in general.'

The claim asserts Ruby's First Amendment rights have been violated, names the principal of her school, as well as the faculty adviser for the literary magazine and the school district at-large.

I'm not defending the decision not to publish it - it seems to me to be of a standard which is at least as good as (or no worse than) much of what makes it into your typical HS and college occasional literary mags, and certainly it addresses a current issue. I'd love to see some data. Did they publish 99 of 100 submissions, with the only one rejected being Ms Ray's effort? Or did they reject 90% of all submissions? Was this the only poem which took on the topic of police violence against Black people? Without knowing the dates I don't know if this happened before or after Chauvin's murder conviction (April 20th) which might have been a factor.

If the school administrators and faculty advisers are minded to placate white racism, then I suspect that there are other examples from this and prior years.

[MajGenl.Meade]

And what's up with the young lady and her parents attending and supporting a racist school? Did they not notice before?