Monday, April 11, 2011

Judge Invades Privacy of Homeschoolers

The order by a Mississippi state judge for a compilation of all families who homeschool their children in his judicial district, apparently for his personal use, has been placed on hold by the state Supreme Court.

UPDATE 4/25/11: MS Supreme Court cancels judge's order for personal information

UPDATE 4/11/11: Judge threatened school officials with jail if they wouldn't give him the names

-- From "Home-school list demand on hold" by Jimmie E. Gates, Jackson Clarion Ledger 4/9/11

A chancery judge, without explanation, wants school attendance officers to provide him a list of home-schooled students and their parents or guardians in Covington, Jefferson Davis, Lawrence, Simpson and Smith counties.

However, the state Supreme Court on Thursday put a hold on Chancery Judge Joe Dale Walker's order and said he must "specifically (address) the issue of under what authority the March 23, 2011, order was issued." Walker has until April 18 to respond.

An advocacy group for home-schoolers believes whatever reason Walker wanted the information for is inappropriate and petitioned the Supreme Court to void the order.

School attendance officers said in an April 1 letter to parents that they would provide the information to Walker unless parents contacted them by this past Friday to indicate whether they had filed for a protective order not to release the information.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Shocker! On his own, judge demands homeschool student IDs" by Bob Unruh © 2011 WorldNetDaily 4/7/11

The HSLDA [Home School Legal Defense Association], which was alerted by its members in the 13th Chancery Court district in Mississippi, where Judge Joe Dale Walker issued the order, immediately sought and obtained a stay of the order from the state Supreme Court.

The judge's order noted that the "cause" for the order "came on for hearing on the court's own motion," but the HSLDA said apparently no hearing ever was held – and the order is the only document in the court file.

The HSLDA said the order is highly unusual and could provide a "chilling" effect on not only homeschoolers but any group whose members' names may at some point be demanded by a judge.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.