Federal trial challenging use of Pepper Spray in Birmingham City Schools
On January 23, Federal District Court Judge Abdul Kallon heard additional testimony from witnesses in J.W. et al. v. A.C. Roper on the use of Freeze +P chemical spray in Birmingham City Schools.
B.J., a former Jackson-Olin High school student, described the time when he was maced in 2009 as unwarranted and unreasonable.
Birmingham Chief of Police A.C. Roper was also questioned about the use of chemical spray in Birmingham City Schools and training for school resource officers.
“This week, the Court heard from all eight plaintiffs in this case about their experience being maced in Birmingham City Schools,” said Ebony Howard, senior staff attorney for the Southern Poverty Law Center. “It was truly empowering for these former students to be able to step forward and call out this injustice in front of the officers who sprayed them with mace while attending school.”
The trial continued on Monday, January 26 at 9 a.m. with two expert witnesses. Dr. Daphne Glindmeyer, a psychiatrist, who testified about the psychological effects of pepper spray on students in school environments. Chief Daniel Coulombe, a law enforcement expert, was to discuss the appropriate use of chemical spray in schools, as well as proper decontamination procedures.
The federal lawsuit, brought by the Southern Poverty Law Center in 2010 on behalf of current and future Birmingham City Schools students, argues the use of pepper spray to enforce basic school discipline violates students’ Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments rights.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, based in Alabama with offices in Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi, is a nonprofit civil rights organization dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry, and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of society. For more information, see www.splcenter.org.
