Father arrested for protesting school board about sexually explicit book

[Sparko]

Can you establish that the rule was 'arbitrary', which would mean that it was not a rule normally in place to govern the proceedings?

arbitrary as in just decided by the school board. NOT voted into law. It has no force of law. I can make up rules too. That doesn't mean I can have someone arrested for breaking them.

also it seems they just made up that rule for this meeting and had the police there. Sounds like a setup to me:

[Christianbookworm]

I am not sure how your law would consider 'disorderly conduct'. But if I take the commonsensical understanding, the 2 minute rule appears to be an agreed upon way of managing such meetings, creating order instead of the dozens of parents shouting over each other to be heard. Insofar as he is violating the rule repeatedly it is clear that he is behaving in a disorderly fashion. As to whether the policeman has the jurisdiction to intervene I am uncertain.

And please, before the , this doesn't mean I support the book assignment policy, or how the school board conducts such meetings.

Agreed. He was being disruptive, but I don't think that requires being arrested! Hopefully he doesn't get charged with any jail time or anything.

[Paprika]

arbitrary as in just decided by the school board. NOT voted into law. It has no force of law. I can make up rules too. That doesn't mean I can have someone arrested for breaking them.

Sure, the rule isn't law, but isn't it meant to govern the proceedings?

also it seems they just made up that rule for this meeting and had the police there. Sounds like a setup to me:

If true, it is possibly a setup. It doesn't change the fact that Baer was behaving in a disorderly fashion.

[Zymologist]

Sure, the rule isn't law, but isn't it meant to govern the proceedings?


If true, it is possibly a setup. It doesn't change the fact that Baer was behaving in a disorderly fashion.

Earlier in the thread, you said this:

Can you establish that the rule was 'arbitrary', which would mean that it was not a rule normally in place to govern the proceedings?

which seems to be exactly what Sparko did.

[JonathanL]

After watching the clips Paprika linked too I have to say that I think anyone who wants to defend the legitimacy of the arrest is going to have to do so against all common sense.



On a lighter, less serious note, the way the guy handled his own arrest made me chuckle a bit.

[Paprika]

Earlier in the thread, you said this:



which seems to be exactly what Sparko did.

He certainly has not 'established' it. Quoted someone asserting that the rule was not normally in place, yes.

[Paprika]

For what it's worth, the fact that the daughter (and cameramen) were there seems, to me, suggestive of a counter-setup.

[Zymologist]

He certainly has not 'established' it. Quoted someone asserting that the rule was not normally in place, yes.

Ok.

The arrest seems very questionable to me, at best.

[JonathanL]

For what it's worth, the fact that the daughter (and cameramen) were there seems, to me, suggestive of a counter-setup.

Would you care to elaborate? What exactly are you suggesting?

[Sparko]

Sure, the rule isn't law, but isn't it meant to govern the proceedings?


If true, it is possibly a setup. It doesn't change the fact that Baer was behaving in a disorderly fashion.

He wasn't behaving even close to "disorderly conduct" which usually means being drunk in public, accosting or threatening violence to others, picking fights, etc. He was trying to get answers and was being shut down at every turn. He still spoke in a civil enough tone. He did keep to his 2 minutes, but then someone else spoke out of turn and he responded to them. Then he was arrested. Why wasn't that other parent arrested for speaking out of turn? He went a whole 30 seconds over his time!

Have you watched a session of our congress?? They have time limits and other such rules of conduct and they all routinely violate them, and get in much more heated arguments than what happened here. If what Baer did was disorderly conduct, then our entire government should be in jail.

[Christianbookworm]

He wasn't behaving even close to "disorderly conduct" which usually means being drunk in public, accosting or threatening violence to others, picking fights, etc. He was trying to get answers and was being shut down at every turn. He still spoke in a civil enough tone. He did keep to his 2 minutes, but then someone else spoke out of turn and he responded to them. Then he was arrested. Why wasn't that other parent arrested for speaking out of turn? He went a whole 30 seconds over his time!

Have you watched a session of our congress?? They have time limits and other such rules of conduct and they all routinely violate them, and get in much more heated arguments than what happened here. If what Baer did was disorderly conduct, then our entire government should be in jail.

Right. Being unprofessional and not acting like a robot earns you an arrest!

[Zymologist]

He wasn't behaving even close to "disorderly conduct" which usually means being drunk in public, accosting or threatening violence to others, picking fights, etc. He was trying to get answers and was being shut down at every turn. He still spoke in a civil enough tone. He did keep to his 2 minutes, but then someone else spoke out of turn and he responded to them. Then he was arrested. Why wasn't that other parent arrested for speaking out of turn? He went a whole 30 seconds over his time!

Have you watched a session of our congress?? They have time limits and other such rules of conduct and they all routinely violate them, and get in much more heated arguments than what happened here. If what Baer did was disorderly conduct, then our entire government should be in jail.

Well....

[JonathanL]

If what Baer did was disorderly conduct, then our entire government should be in jail.

If this was meant to be an reductio ad absurdum it fails horribly.

[Paprika]

Would you care to elaborate? What exactly are you suggesting?

This is a meeting (as far as I can tell) between the parents and the school board. Observe the second video (Part 2): that is the daughter of Baer. Now look at the first video. When the guy is arrested, a cameraman follows him out. The daughter also appears starting ~6:29. Both follow the policeman with the handcuffed Baer. A couple of questions:

1) Why is there a cameraman there filming the arrest and following Baer and the policeman?
2) What is the daughter doing there at the meeting?

It seem suggestive to me, but not necessarily conclusive, Baer expected to be arrested and had a cameramen there to film the proceedings.

[seer]

And all this because a father objected to the smut that his daughter was exposed to by the liberal education machine. I mean why is this stuff even in the class room in the first place!