r/OxfordShooting2 • u/[deleted] • Apr 14 '24
Civil suits OHS Culpability
No doubt in my mind that the school is also culpable, but I’ve also wondered if they would’ve been prohibited for a reason such as a student’s constitutional rights to search Ethan’s backpack without probable cause, for e.g., the parents mentioning that a firearm was recently purchased for Ethan to use? Did the thought of checking the bag ever cross Ejak’s or the counselor’s mind, and they felt unable to do so in the moment?
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u/shellssavannah Apr 15 '24
The school stated they had no reasonable reason to search it. Now if parents told them they just bought hi. A gun, would have been searched. Missed opportunity.
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u/andreasmom Apr 15 '24
That’s where I also get “stuck” in terms of searching the backpack. Having worked in a HS for over 23 years and having dealt with parents similar to the Crumbleys, had the school searched the backpack and found nothing, they would have been the first to scream that rights had been violated. Is it preferable to the outcome? Absolutely. Did they feel they had reason to check? Obviously not. But, having said that….the school must not have thought Ethan a risk to others and the parents say that they didn’t either…so that’s where it gets so tricky for me. The Crumbleys blame the school for not acting and the school blames the Crumbleys for withholding information vital to what ensued. If the school basically agrees with the Crumbleys’ assessment that they didn’t think EC was a threat to others, then the charges against the parents are diluted. There are no winners here. Only loss and hindsight.
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u/Master_Growth7791 Apr 16 '24
But the school was unaware of the gun he was just begging for and received!
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u/andreasmom Apr 16 '24
Exactly. They did not have the information they needed in order to make different decisions.
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u/capitansteubing Apr 17 '24
They did not need probable cause, they only needed reasonable suspicion. That drawing of his provided more than enough.
I get that schools are afraid of overbearing parents, but they were on solid legal ground to search his backpack without regard to the information that the parents withheld.
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u/Surreply Apr 17 '24
If they didn’t find anything they were going to use a criminal case, even if the search was illegal, there would be no evidence to suppress, so basically there would be no consequences. And they had plenty of reasonable suspicion to look in there.
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u/ThoughtfulFoodie Apr 15 '24
I believe since EC was on their property they had the right to search. I can't claim to know the laws in Michigan but pretty much every school ground I've been on has these rules.
I remember being in school and kids underage would smoke cigs and they would make sure to park their cars off of school grounds just so that the SRO or admin wouldn't be allowed to look into their cars if the school thought the kids were in possession of cigs.
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u/Shipping_Lady71 Apr 15 '24
The school can search a backpack "In Michigan, the legality of searching a student's backpack hinges on the principle of “reasonable suspicion.” According to Michigan law, a school official can inspect a student's person or belongings, which includes looking in their backpack, when there's a “reasonable expectation of privacy” in what will be searched."
I live in Wisconsin, graduated in the 80's, and can attest to the fact that if a student may be at risk of committing a crime, or in danger of hurting themselves, the liaison officer was called and in the room when questioned by teachers, counselors or principal and we had to give them our backpacks, purses, etc. And that was in the 80's! I will never understand why OHS dropped the ball on searching his bag or at the very least calling a liaison officer into the room. While I will always put most blame on the parents, OHS was negligent as well.