The Littlest Felons

Book 'em, Dano! "Superpredators" with pebbles and raw eggs get zero tolerance in Palm Beach County schools.

A A A Comments By Wyatt Olson Thursday, Dec 15 2005

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The school district might find the pressure building in 2006. The Advancement Project's Harris says that his group and the Florida NAACP are putting together an action plan based on the fall public hearings. "I think a big step forward was getting the NAACP membership involved," he says.

Darlene Foster considers how easily her son, the most unlikely of felons, was swept up into the zero-tolerance machine. She wonders about other at-risk kids.

Dan May

The zero-tolerance policy in schools has turned youthful mistakes into crimes, says Barbara Briggs, an attorney with the Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County.

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"It was very frustrating that this could happen to us," Darlene says. "My kid doesn't have a smart mouth, but he does have a disability. What about a kid who has a disability and does have a smart mouth? How is he going to handle himself around a police officer?"