What Do You Think?

[GurlRusz]

I guess she things that between police and school official standing over the kids they would not be to intimidated to talk.

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"I was right there with every female student, no one came to me to say 'Mrs. Romero did you just see what happened or Mrs. Romero I really feel uncomfortable'," said Romero.

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or since they were teens being afraid of being put into a very uncomfortable spotlight, as well as their grades being affected, if they said anything about what was apparently a school supported sexual assault lineup. Plus they have been taught all their lives to respect and do what the school officials tell them to do.

it would naturally be difficult for any kid to speak out . . . just as it is very difficult for adults to speak out about being assaulted at airports and federal buildings. it is often difficult for a victim to come forward, especially when the aggressor is someone of authority.



copied from:
http://www.kob.com/article/stories/S2116447.shtml


Santa Fe public schools sued over prom searches

Posted at: 05/17/2011
By: Gadi Schwartz, KOB Eyewitness News 4


Two sisters are taking the Santa Fe school district to federal court over the way they were patted down and searched on their way prom.

One senior tells Eyewitness News 4 the pat down was so invasive she felt like she was being molested.

Capital High School senior Candice Herrera says while waiting in line to enter the prom she watched other students patted down by private security guards while faculty checked bags and purses for contraband.

When Herrera was up to be searched she says the female security guard made her extremely uncomfortable.

"She grabbed my breast and grabbed the inner part of my bra and shook it and then picked up the front of my dress to like mid thigh." Herrera said. "She was patting down my bare legs which kind of didn't make sense."

Herrera says she saw similar pat downs happen to other students as they entered the prom. "

I felt really awkward, I felt like I was being molested in some sort of way," Herrera explained. "It's not right to be touched in that many ways." T

he class action lawsuit filed in federal court on Tuesday also alleges that school administrators confiscated nail clippers, a small bottle of lotion and prescription pills from the sisters as they passed through security.

According to the lawsuit, neither Herrera or her younger sister had ever been in trouble at school and the younger sister, who is a minor, is ranked first in her class with a perfect G.P.A.

In an interview with KOB, the principal of Capitol High School, Melanie Romero said she had trouble understanding the allegations because she was there the night of the prom supervising the area where security was searching students.

Romero said they did confiscate items and pat both male and female students down for contraband and described the searches as similar to those at airport security.

But Romero says she didn't remember seeing any guard cup a students breast and explained that in accordance with district protocol, the searches were done with the back of a closed hand in the shape of a blade and only some female students are asked to move the under wire of their bras or dresses to see if contraband is tucked inside.

"I was right there with every female student, no one came to me to say 'Mrs. Romero did you just see what happened or Mrs. Romero I really feel uncomfortable'," said Romero.

Herrera insists that was not her experience. "Definitely not what happened to me," Herrera responded when asked about how she was searched. "I have been through other searches before and I know that they are only supposed to use the outside of the hand and this woman used the cup of her hand and checked me in that way."

Herrera and her sister are seeking a temporary restraining order against similar screenings at school functions saying that their constitutional right to be free of unreasonable search and seizures was violated.

The lawsuit also alleges that the district violated its own policy that allows for searches only when there is a reasonable suspicion that the student may be violating the law or school rules.

The district maintains that blanket searches are legal, citing safety concerns. Romero said they conduct searches because in the past some students have tried to sneak in drugs or alcohol.

"They walk in sober and within two hours they are very inebriated," said Romero referring to past incidents in which ambulances had to be called.

Romero said during Capital's prom they confiscated cigarettes and lighters from some students.

KOB checked with the states largest school district, APS, on their search policy.

Officials there say they don't pat down students going into dances.

The Santa Fe school district says that is because APS has its own police force. District officials tell KOB they plan on patting down students at Santa Fe High schools prom this upcoming Saturday. That prom is scheduled to be held at the Buffalo Thunder Resort and Casino. Herrera says she has been invited to attend that prom as well and plans to attend but hopes she isn't searched as thoroughly as before. "At least in the airport they have had past experiences with terrorists," Herrera said. "The public school hasn't had anything that bad happen they need to be searching everything like that."

[GurlRusz]

http://www.kob.com/article/stories/S2122102.shtml?cat=504


TSA to oversee searches at Santa Fe prom


Posted at: 05/20/2011
By: Heather Mills, KOB Eyewitness News 4


Saturday night, a certified TSA official will be at the Santa Fe High School prom to oversee student searches.

This all comes after two Capital High School students, sisters, filed a lawsuit saying they were groped by a security agent at Capital High School's prom last month. On Friday, the court ordered Santa Fe Public Schools and the security company ASI to provide at least one TSA certified person at the Santa Fe High School prom and the Capital High School graduation.

The restraining order also spells out the specific ways security can perform searches. It says a pat-down is only to be used if there are reasonable grounds and that pat-downs should not be used as a first approach for every student.

KOB Eyewitness News 4 talked to one of the sisters suing the district earlier this week. Candice Herrera said, "She grabbed my breast and shook the inner part of my bra and shook it and then picked up the front of my dress to mid thigh and she was patting down my bare legs."

Capital's Principal told us she was standing right there when students were searched and doesn't remember any students complaining about the pat downs.

Meanwhile, Santa Fe Public Schools says it's happy to comply with the Federal Court's decision, saying, student safety is a priority.

[GurlRusz]

http://www.infowars.com/tsa-backs-down-from-prom-night-grope/



TSA Backs Down from Prom Night Grope


Kurt Nimmo
Infowars.com
May 23, 2011

Last week it was announced that TSA goons would conduct a grope-down of students during prom night at a Santa Fe high school. The TSA promised to move from airports into the New Mexico high school after two girls said security personnel groped them and a federal judge ruled the TSA should conduct pat-downs at dances or graduations.

On Saturday night, the TSA did not conduct the searches at the Santa Fe high school as promised. In public schools searching students is now a well-established practice.

Santa Fe superintendent Bobbie Gutierrez told KOAT News in Albuquerque that instead of TSA goons with blue latex gloves, the court allowed Santa Fe High School to use state police to search students.

See the KOAT video here.
http://www.koat.com/r-video/27979990/detail.html


The judge’s ruling indicates the federal government and the TSA believe they should be conducting searches. The TSA has moved from airports to train and bus stations. TSA boss Napolitano has said she envisions the agency ultimately groping citizens at malls and hotels.

In February, we reported that the TSA had announced its intention to expand the VIPR program to include roadside inspections of commercial vehicles, setting up a network of internal checkpoints and rolling out security procedures already active in airports, bus terminals and subway stations to roads and highways across the United States.

Following the purported killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, New York senator Charles Schumer called for no ride lists for Amtrak similar to the no fly lists currently used in the nation’s airports. Schumer issued his demand after the Pentagon supposedly gleaned information about terrorists attacks from Osama bin Laden’s home in Pakistan. The Department of Homeland Security sent an advisory to law enforcement officials around the country stating al-Qaeda discussed tampering with an unspecified U.S. rail track so that a train would fall off the track at a valley or a bridge.


On Friday, the Santa Fe school district announced the planned TSA-led grope-down.

The TSA’s declaration that it will move its grope-down operation into not only malls and hotels, but also high schools, is part of the federal effort to acclimate the population to an ever increasing police state.