Students of color are four times as likely as white students to face criminal charges under this law. ![]() The ACLU is also challenging another vague “disorderly conduct” law, which makes it a crime for students at school to conduct themselves in a “disorderly or boisterous manner.”Įvery year, more than a thousand students in South Carolina - some as young as 7 years old - face criminal charges for not following directions, loitering, cursing, or the vague allegation of acting “obnoxiously.” If charged as adults, they can be held in jail for up to 90 days. On her behalf, the ACLU filed a lawsuit challenging the South Carolina law that makes “disturbing a school” a criminal offense, on grounds that it’s unconstitutionally vague. She was released that evening with criminal charges of “disturbing a school.” Niya was arrested, handcuffed, charged as an adult, and taken to jail. As Fields handcuffed the other girl, he turned toward Niya and told her she was going to jail, too. Niya was so scared she began to shake and cry. “Isn’t anyone going to help her?” she asked. Niya stood up and called out, she recalled later. Fields picked the girl up, flipped her in her desk, and then grabbed an arm and a leg to throw her across the room. Three different students made cell phone videos of what happened next. ![]() As soon as he entered the room, she called out for other students to record him. Niya thought the officer’s appearance was bad news - his name was Ben Fields, but he was so aggressive that students knew him as Officer Slam. A girl in her class had refused to put away her cell phone, and the teacher had summoned an administrator, who called on the officer assigned to the school. One day last fall, Niya Kenny was sitting in her math class at Spring Valley High School in Richland County, South Carolina, when a police officer came into the classroom.
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