A Long Island student and her father have filed a lawsuit against the
New York State, the State Assembly and its Speaker Sheldon Silver, and
other elected officials (including include two presidents pro tem of the
New York State Senate), claiming that the lawmakers’ decision to exempt
private schools from child protection laws that govern New York’s
public schools is a violation of the civil rights of private school
students.
Lawsuit Aims To Force NY State To Make Private Religious Schools Take The Same Child Safety Measures Public Schools Must Take By Law
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
A Long Island student and her father have filed a lawsuit against the New York State, the State Assembly and its Speaker Sheldon Silver, and other elected officials (including include two presidents pro tem of the New York State Senate), claiming that the lawmakers’ decision to exempt private schools from child protection laws that govern New York’s public schools is a violation of the civil rights of private school students.
Levi v. New York State was filed Friday in Manhattan Federal Court. The student attends a Nassau County yeshiva.
“No one was attacked or assaulted here. This lawsuit has nothing to do with curriculums. It is limited to child safety and health laws and about making our religious schools safer for our children,” the plaintiffs’ attorney Elliot Pasik, who is also the and president and founder of the Jewish Board of Advocates for Children, reportedly said.
By not governing private religious schools under the same child safety and health regulations as public schools, the student plaintiff’s Constitutional rights guaranteed under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause and under the First Amendment’s Free Exercise and Establishment Clause are violated, compelling the student to receive her education in a potentially hazardous environment in order to attend a school that allows her to freely practice her religion, the civil complaint reportedly claims.
Citing the Leiby Kletzky murder, the complaint reportedly claims that extensive attention has been directed to improving child safety legislation, particularly in non-public schools. Kletzky, an 8-year-old yeshiva student and day camper, was abducted, murdered and dismembered by fellow Brooklyn resident Levi Aron in 2011.
The plaintiffs want private religious schools to educate students in abduction prevention, to fingerprint and run criminal background checks of all employees, and to report any and all child abuse that takes place in an educational setting – all things public schools are currently required by law to do.
[Hat Tip: Seymour.]