Jonathan King case

Partners grad, Sharon Capers sent this to me yesterday.Read it and let us know what you think.
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I attended the Oral Argument in the Jonathan King case in the Court of Appeals on Monday, July 6, 2009. Jonathan King was a student in the school facility called Alpine where he was placed in a seclusion room after previously threatening suicide; he hung himself and died in the time out room. More information about the case can be found in the CNN news story: Children forced into cell-like school seclusion rooms - CNN.com. This article contains pictures and video of his parents speaking of events prior to his death.

The school system won on the lower level and this was the argument for the appeal. I was interested in the case as an advocate and parent. The attorney representing the King family, Wyc Orr, felt it was important to fill the courtroom to let it be known that students should be safe in schools. There were many attendants from the Georgia Advocacy Office. There were two prior court cases and it was a good legal learning experience. I felt the three judges seemed more sympathetic towards the King family from the questions they asked of the attorneys representing both sides.

I was told the judges generally take 2 to 3 months to make a final decision. However, they did allow additional time for the attorneys to present more information (within 10 days) and this could be a positive sign. I do not understand how this incident happened without any consequences. As a nurse, I know there would be serious penalties if this happened in a health care setting. During the oral argument before the judges there was mention of "sovereign immunity" by the attorneys on both sides. In a nutshell, sovereign immunity is the legal privilege by which the American federal and state governments cannot be sued. This child had repeatedly been placed in the time out room and for up to 7 hours at a time. This raises many questions such as if this procedure was not effective, why was it continued and why weren't other interventions attempted?

The National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) published a paper in January, 2009 reporting on the use of restraint and seclusion in educational settings. NDRN collected information from Protection and Advocacy organizations around the country, including the Georgia Advocacy Office. Many states have laws and regulations concerning the use of restraint and seclusion in educational settings. Georgia currently does not have any such regulations (GAO website).

Restraint and seclusion has been a hot topic in Georgia and it is long past the time for needed change. Please do not let this child's death be in vain. I would like to open discussion as to how we as advocates can make effective change happen. As a Partners in Policymaking graduate whom do we need to approach? Who are the key policymakers? The Georgia Department of Education has made it clear that their role is to monitor but not regulate. The GA DOE can encourage counties to adopt Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (http://www.pbis.org/) but not mandate. Does change need to occur at the state or federal level? How do we prevent similar incidents from reoccurring? Attending the oral argument made me angry regarding the injustice that occurred and great sadness for the parents who sat in the back of the courtroom quietly sobbing. Laws and rules need to be changed to prevent future harm and death to children.

Sharon Capers
sharoncapers@yahoo.com