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| Date: From: Subject: | 4/27/2011 3:54:59 PM Home School Legal Defense Association Illinois: Calls Needed to Stop Truancy Ordinance |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== Illinois: Calls Needed to Stop Truancy Ordinance Dear Members and Friends in Boone County, Illinois: The Boone County State's attorney has proposed two different versions of a county ordinance designed to reduce truancy, but both versions set the stage for potentially harsh consequences for homeschool families. An important committee vote will occur tomorrow evening. The first version of ordinance No. 11-21 allows conviction for truancy--with no warning--if a child is absent from school without excuse for as little as one hour. Police and other law enforcement personnel may see this as the "green light" to stop and question any young person they see on the street during public school hours. This could result in homeschooled children becoming afraid to go outside. This potential intimidation would create a chilling effect on their constitutional rights. (A prosecution under state law, on the other hand, would require that warnings first be given.) The second version is a daytime curfew that prohibits young people from being present in any public place during the hours their school is in session. This again sets the stage for law enforcement personnel to treat any young person on the street during school hours as a suspect. Even if a child is never charged with a crime, being stopped and questioned sends a powerful message: you are a suspected criminal. ACTION REQUESTED 1. Please contact all the members of the Boone County Board's Administrative and Legislative Committee before tomorrow evening. Your message can be as simple as: "Please vote NO on ordinance 11-21. Both the first and second versions will give the green light for law enforcers to stop and question any young person they find on the street. It will tend to make young people afraid to enjoy their lawful freedom. It could result in harassment, intimidation, and the violation of civil rights." Feel free to call other members of the board as well. CONTACT INFORMATION Boone County Board's Administrative and Legislative Committee Tricia Smith (815) 540-6818 Brad Fidder (815) 569-2415 Anthony Dini (815) 520-1251 Catherine Ward (815) 978-8029 Theresa "Terri" Glass, (815) 544-3896 BACKGROUND INFORMATION Public schools take attendance in every class. They know the names and addresses of every child who appears to be absent without excuse. An ordinance could be drafted that would direct enforcement only against those students, and it could be done in a way that would not make our young people fearful of going outside during the daytime. You may be told that other towns and counties already have identical ordinances. That is hardly a good reason to enact the same bad law in another town or county! If more towns or counties adopt similar ordinances, the likelihood of homeschoolers being harassed and intimidated rises. If we want to borrow the ordinance of another town or county, let's borrow a good one. There is no doubt that public school truancy is a significant problem; 741,000 public school students were reported as truant in 2008-2009. That's about one-third of the entire public school enrollment. But public schools already know the names and addresses of these truants, and enforcement mechanisms are already in place. There is no legitimate need to enact ordinances that create an atmosphere that encourages every young person on the street during school hours to be treated like a suspected criminal Sincerely, Scott Woodruff HSLDA Senior Counsel ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> How many of your friends would pay your legal fees? 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