Kevin Lake
On January 31st, 11-year-old, Caden Cook, was in line to be patted down by guards of that Chicago area school when he realized he’d left a toy gun in his sweater. Knowing the toy was contraband, because it resembled something that could be used in a dangerous way (i.e. a real gun in the wrong hands), he voluntarily gave the toy to the guards and explained that he’d simply forgotten to take it out of his pocket and leave it at home.
What followed was an intense interrogation by school officials, without Caden’s mother being present, which included harassment, threats of legal repercussions, and which finally ended in Caden being suspended from school and an order that he is to receive psychological counseling before he can return.
Fortunately, the Rutherford Institute has taken up Caden’s case and will be playing hard, full court press in the legal system to attempt to right this injustice.
According to the law suit, school officials showed a complete lack of any ability to use common sense, and actually reward the 11 year old boy for coming clean of what was in his possession, and instead, jumped to worst case conclusions and proved their complete inability to think for themselves.
Rutherford Institute’s President, John Whitehead, made the following statement in regard to the case:
“This case speaks volumes about what’s wrong with our public schools and public officials: rather than school officials showing they are capable of exercising good judgment, distinguishing between what is and is not a true threat, and preserving safety while steering clear of a lockdown mind set better suited to a prison environment, they instead opted to exhibit poor judgment, embrace heavy handed tactics, and treat a toy gun like a dangerous weapon.”
