Bob Witanek of "Decarcerate the Garden State" writes that a Times' editorial misstated its position on what to tell youngsters about their rights in dealing with police officers.
By Bob Witanek
I appreciate the continued interest of the South Jersey Times and nj.com in the letter in which my organization urged state Commissioner of Education David Hespe to add "Personal Rights Awareness" to the curriculum in New Jersey schools. I also appreciate the link to the letter, press release and related commentary from our blog where I published my letter to Hespe.
However, the July 10 editorial "Don't poison cops for N.J, third graders" is a distortion of our position. Here is part of the text of my letter to Hespe:
"... given the role that the public schools you preside over are referring student matters to the police, it behooves this same statewide school system to equip the students with knowledge of their rights when they are forced into encounters with police -- in this case -- by the public schools.
"Students need to be advised of their right to ask for their parents and an attorney and their right to remain silent. Also, districts need to send letters to parents explaining what their varying police policies are and that parents have an interest in informing and educating their children as to what their rights are."
Nothing about telling students to "clam up" during interactions with police. No contradiction to what the editors culled from the American Civil Liberties Union's advice about police stops.
The editors have made a straw-man argument here -- putting words in my mouth that were not in my letter.
The editorial actually ends up agreeing with me that the students should not be interviewed by police without their parents, as may have happened in some recent Collingswood cases.
My letter to Hespe did not spell out exactly WHAT a the Personal Rights Awareness curriculum would consist of. It only called for the creation of same. Defense attorneys and civil liberties experts, as well as professional educators, would devise the course work. It could include scenarios and classroom discussion about various hypothetical situations.There would be room to explore the nuances of "the right to remain silent" versus collective safety in an emergency situation, for example.
The Times could have made the same point without implying that we are saying anything that we, in fact, are not at all saying. The editorial could have made recommendations about what should be in such a course. Actually, the editorial did end up on that note. But the way it couched it comes across as in opposition to our position, falsely implying that we are saying that students should never talk to cops.
This was a poorly written editorial that probably harms the effort to increase youth rights awareness that, these days, could be the only thing standing between them living a happy life and ending up incarcerated for a substantial part of that life.
In a tweet, Ari Rosmarin of ACLU-NJ has called the editorial "misguided" and has stated that he agrees with Decarcerate the Garden State that it is never too early to know one's rights when dealing with police.
Instead of falsely representing advocates looking out for families and the rights of youth, perhaps the Times should press Commissioner Hespe to answer the demand to add rights awareness to the curriculum. There has been no reporting of his view, to my knowledge.
Those interested in organizing one of our workshops for youth and families can call or text Decarcerate the Garden State at 908-881-5275.
Bob Witanek is co-founder of the group Decarcerate the Garden State. He writes from Belle Mead, Somerset County.