Thursday, October 22, 2009

Gazette: Students who raped classmate were allowed back at school

Please note that the current MCPS Board of Education has been systematically eliminating alternative educational facilities in Montgomery County.   For example, the Kingsley Wilderness Center, a work-study program for seriously disruptive and/or chronically truant high school students, was closed by the Board of Education in 2007. Without alternatives, students involved in disruptive or criminal behaviors are returned to local schools.
The family of a 15-year-old Gaithersburg girl who was raped in January thought the worst was over when three of their daughter's classmates at Col. Zadok Magruder High School were charged with the crime.
But two of the three boys returned to Magruder in August...

16 comments:

  1. The authorities need more victims in order to successfully prosecute the perpetrators.

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  2. "...graduated and is a student at Montgomery College,..." Wonders never cease!

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  3. STEVEN G. SALANT, Associate Judge, Montgomery County Circuit Court, 6th Judicial Circuit, since October 20, 2008. Member, Family Law Committee, Maryland Judicial Conference, 2009-12.

    Assistant State's Attorney, Cook County, Illinois, 1977-80. Family Division Master, Montgomery County Circuit Court, 1995-2008.

    Born in Brooklyn, New York, December 16, 1952. State University of New York at Albany, B.A. (political science), magna cum laude, 1974; Georgetown University Law Center, J.D., 1977 (georgetown street law clinic, 1975-76; georgetown criminal justice clinic, 1976-77). Admitted to Illinois Bar, 1977; Maryland Bar, 1981; District of Columbia Bar, 1981. Partner, Salant & Wisner, 1981-82. Sole practitioner, 1982-95. Member, Illinois State Bar Association, 1977-80; American Bar Association, 1977-91; Maryland State Bar Association, 1982- (board of governors, 1998-2000, 2006-08; committee on laws, 2000-; committee on resolution of fee disputes, 2002-; criminal law & practice section; family & juvenile law section); Montgomery County Bar Association, 1981- (executive committee, 1996-98); District of Columbia Bar Association, 1982- (family law section, 1982-). Member, American Trial Lawyers Association, 1982-2005; Maryland Criminal Defense Attorneys Association, 1987-. President, Simon E. Sobeloff Law Society, 2004-. Board of Directors, Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington, 1999-; Sign Language Associates, Inc., 1992-95. Member, National Association for the Deaf, 1984-2000; Deaf and Hard of Hearing Entrepreneurs Council, 1992-95. Guest lecturer, Towson University 1996-. Bar Leader Award, Montgomery County Bar Association, 1995. Member, Oseh Shalom Synagogue, 1992- (board of directors, 1992-98)

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    Replies
    1. It is prudent to take praise with a grain of salt.

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  4. Salant ... was appointed as a judge for the Circuit Court in Montgomery County by Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) in September 2008 to fill a vacancy. He was elected to a 15-year-term on the bench in November 2010, receiving more than 66,000 votes.

    http://www.gazette.net/stories/01192011/gaitnew193734_32533.php

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  5. Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2011
    Judge receives warning for comments in 2009 rape case
    State board responds to complaints
    by Danielle E. Gaines | Staff Writer
    E-mail this article \ Print this article
    Related Coverage

    Students who raped classmate allowed back at school

    A Montgomery County Circuit Court judge has received a warning from Maryland's judicial oversight commission after friends and family members of a 15-year-old rape victim complained about comments he made at the September 2009 sentencing hearing for three boys accused of the crime.

    Judge Steven G. Salant received a "dismissal with warning" from an investigative panel of the Maryland Commission on Judicial Disabilities, according to a Dec. 21, 2010, letter from the commission indicating that the warning was issued. The letter was obtained by The Gazette on Jan. 4.

    The contents of the warning are not available to the public and Salant referred questions to his Greenbelt-based attorney, Tim Maloney. Maloney declined to comment.

    An investigative panel for the commission had reviewed the complaints and voted to recommend that no charges or proceedings be brought against Salant, according to the commission's procedures. As part of the dismissal letter, Salant was issued a one-line warning.

    The dismissal means the panel determined that any sanctionable conduct by the judge is sufficiently addressed with the written warning. Such an action is the weakest the commission can take, aside from dismissing a complaint without a warning. The commission also has the power to recommend to the state Court of Appeals the removal or censure of a judge.

    http://www.gazette.net/stories/01192011/gaitnew193734_32533.php

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  6. In light of ever-reduced funding to MCPS, I'm not sure that the decision to close the alternative facility would have been made for any other reason, especially right after the Recession was resulting in significant loss of funds. Had they kept the facility open, funding would still have had to have been diverted FROM somewhere else - what other programs or facilities would you have them eliminate? Outdoor Ed?

    Can anyone else here speak to policy changes in situations like this since 2009? I know it's not as much as many of us (myself included) would have liked, but it was also 8 years ago. I am not sure how relevant this is NOW. If the students at RHS who were arrested are allowed back to school, that would be another story, but given that I understand that deportation orders had been taken out already on at least one if not both of them (depends on which story I read about them), it seems unlikely that would be the case here.

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    Replies
    1. Ever reducing??? When Jerry Weast was superintendent the MCPS Operating budget DOUBLED from $1 billion to $2 billion. He closed any and all programs that made him look bad. He dumped students that needed extra attention anywhere he could so that their progress could not be monitored closely.

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    2. Let's hope that another crime is not committed before ICE separates the wheat from the chaff.

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    3. Jerry Weast has not been Superintendent here for many many years (he wasn't my favorite superintendent either; I would happily have helped him pack when I heard he was retiring). And the size of the district has grown, as have the needs of its students (ie more students living in poverty). But building renovations are overdue (as are new buildings), class sizes are increasing (while allotments for specials teachers in ES are dropping and have been decreasing for years), there have been staff CUTS in special ed in schools that already had insufficient staff, not to mention the ill-advise and expensive but to some degree necessary jump into tech (PARCC is given online now, for example, as are all MAP tests) - costs are up, and funding has not kept pace with the size and needs of the district. Adjusted for inflation, I'm not sure that the per-pupil expenditure has kept up. If anyone out there has done the math, I would be interested to know for sure, though.

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    4. Nice regurgitation of the Apple Ballot propaganda, but not anywhere near the truth. Why aren't Montgomery County citizens better at looking at budgets? Other communities track budget information, but not here.

      See the graph:

      http://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2011/01/mcps-enrollment-and-operating-budget.html

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    5. It is absolutely outrageous that a 17 and 18 year old were placed in the 9th grade with 14 year olds. It is equally outrageous that one of the perpetrators was allowed to continue at school when had an ICE detainer and was scheduled to be deported due to prior criminal activity. Are we so blind that we do not see that this is not acceptable?

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    6. This is the Apple Ballot, the teachers' union pick of elected officials that everyone loves. The Apple Ballot candidates have systematically eliminated programs that would address this situation and separate these older students while allowing them to continue their education.

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