Suit claims painful shackling of school kids with ADHD violates Constitution and disability law
A lawsuit filed on behalf of two children in Kentucky claims a sheriff’s deputy handcuffed them in a painful position for misbehavior at school, violating their constitutional rights and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The suit (PDF), filed on Monday in federal court in Covington, Kentucky, alleges the children were being punished for behavior relating to their disabilities, according to an American Civil Liberties Union press release. MSNBC, the New York Times, Cincinnati.com and the Lexington Herald-Leader are among the publications with stories.
The suit says both children, who were handcuffed in the fall of 2014, have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The boy, who was 8 at the time, also had a history of trauma while the girl, who was 9, had additional special needs. The children were handcuffed at their biceps, with their arms held close together behind their back. The Kenton County sheriff’s deputy who shackled them was a resource officer for several public elementary schools in Covington.
A school official made a video recording of the boy’s shackling and turned it over to his parents. The suit claims the children were subjected to excessive force in violation of the Fourth and 14th amendments, and subjected to disability-based discrimination in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Kentucky school regulations bar the shackling of children unless they pose an imminent danger to themselves or others, the suit says. Neither child posed such a danger, according to the complaint.
The suit was filed on the children’s behalf by the ACLU, the Children’s Law Center, and Dinsmore & Shohl.
Kenton County Sheriff Charles Korzenborn issued a statement defending the resource officer’s actions, the New York TImes reports. Korzenborn said the officer conformed to constitutional and law enforcement standards when responding to school officials’ request that he “de-escalate and defuse a threat to others.”
Updated on Aug. 5 to add statement from Korzenborn.
