Permission
Dear Guardians:
A DCPS parent has sent me a copy of the permission slip that the
public school system requires parents and legal guardians to sign in
order to allow children to participate in a field trip. Actually, it's
not a permission slip; it's a three-page document, and it's an
intimidating legal contract that gives all rights to the school system,
and none to the parents or students. For a parent who cares about the
welfare of his or her child, it's an unconscionable document. It
releases DCPS from any responsibility for the welfare of the children in
their care, even if the children are harmed by a DCPS employee, whether
by negligence or even deliberately. Here are the operative two
paragraphs:
“I agree to release and not to sue the District of Columbia or any
agency, employee, officer, agent, or representative of the District of
Columbia in regard to any and all claims, liabilities, suits, or
expenses (hereafter collectively ‘claims’) including claims caused
or alleged to be caused by negligence, for any injury, damage, or other
loss to me or my child in any way connected with my child’s
participation in the activity/field trip listed above. I agree to waive
all claims I or my child may have against the District of Columbia
arising out of or in any way relating to the activity/field trip listed
above and agree that neither I, nor anyone acting on my behalf, will
make a claim or file a lawsuit against the District of Columbia or any
agency, employee, officer, agent, or representative of the District of
Columbia arising out of or in any way relating to the activity/field
trip listed above.
“I agree to discharge, indemnify and hold harmless the District of
Columbia; any agency, employee, officer, agent or representative of the
District of Columbia; and all sponsors and participating volunteer
organizations and their agents, employees and representatives, from all
claims, demands, actions or judgments which I, or my heirs, executors,
administrators, or assigns may have any and all injuries and damages,
known or unknown, caused by or arising out of the activity/field trip
listed above.”
Then, as though the lawyer who drew up this outrageous agreement
realized that no reasonable judge would enforce it, the final paragraph
of the document says, “Any portion of this Document deemed unlawful or
unenforceable shall not affect the remaining provisions, and those
remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect.” But any
parent or guardian of a child who had been seriously injured on a field
trip because of DCPS neglect would have to spend a year or two getting
this unethical and unscrupulous document voided by the courts before
being able to recover damages or costs for medical expenses.
The permission form is dated 2009-2010, which means it was drafted
and first distributed when Michelle Rhee was chancellor. It fits
perfectly into her management practice of denying fair treatment and
rights to everyone involved in DCPS — teachers, administrators, other
workers, students, special education students, parents, etc. — and of
using DCPS lawyers to protect DCPS management from being responsible and
accountable, at all costs. If DCPS is supposed to have changed its ways,
however, if it supposed under Chancellor Kaya Henderson and Mayor Gray
to really mean “children first,” why is it still using this
document?
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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Law? What Law? Who Cares, What Law?
Jack McKay, jack.mckay@verizon.net
Last January I noted that the District uses obscure three-digit codes
to designate, on a parking or traffic ticket, the supposed offense.
P055, for example, denotes “no parking anytime.” Okay, but what is
the actual District law that has putatively been violated? For that, you
must locate an obscure document, Metropolitan Police Circular 07-04,
where you will discover that P055 corresponds to District Municipal
Regulation 18, 4019.1, “Parking Restrictions.” Ah, but there's a wee
problem. That regulation prohibits parking only at three very specific
locations in the District, on Woodley Road, NW, Okie Street, NE, and
Branch Avenue, SE. Anywhere else in DC, it's physically impossible to be
in violation of that regulation.
Nonetheless, the parking ticket folks just love P055, because they
can cite this without having to think about why parking was prohibited,
and the ticket warranted. So, disregarding the actual text of the law,
they happily use P055 anywhere and everywhere. But that means that the
recipient of such a ticket really has no clue concerning what regulation
he's charged with having violated. For virtually all of DC, distant from
those three specific locations, it won't be DCMR 18, 4019.1. What actual
law has been violated? There's no way of knowing.
I've told the DC government this, suggesting that the have these
ticket folks learn the laws they're supposed to be enforcing, and cite
the actual laws violated, not this “magic” P055. No such luck. The
MPD has inserted the following cover-your-butt text on its web page
linking to the aforesaid document: “These documents may not be used as
legal authority. . . . While every effort has been made to provide
accurate information there is no warranty, expressed or implied, as to
the accuracy, reliability, or compliance of this document.”
Translation: when you get a parking or traffic ticket, you have no way
of discovering for sure what District law you are charged with having
violated. Maybe it's what the MPD circular says it is, or maybe it's
not. You're just supposed to trust the ticket writer that you actually
violated some law. What law? Who knows? Just shut up and pay the fine.
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Eight Arrested at DC Vote Protest on Capitol
Hill
Leah Ramsay, lramsay@dcvote.org
On the eve of an unorthodox hearing on Capitol Hill on DC's local
budget, eight activists were arrested on May 11 while protesting federal
interference in local District affairs. They are Annalee Ash, Diane
Bernstein, Tamara Copeland, Herb Hillery, Colleen Lee, Judith Sandalow,
Juan Thompson, Bernadette Tolson. Click http://www.dcvote.org/media/media.cfm?mediaID=389
to read a testimony from arrestee Tamara Copeland.
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Taxation Poll from “DC Fiscal Policy
Institute”
Matthew Forman, Matthew.Forman2@verizon.net
Regarding the poll indicating that DC residents prefer to maintain
the level social services instead of holding down taxes, I would add a
couple points to Gary's note about the poll's bias [themail, May 11].
To my knowledge, the "DC Fiscal Policy Institute" doesn't
exist. Rather, it is apparently a handful of folks who work at the
left-leaning, anti-tax cut Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. (Note
the posting about the poll in the last issue of themail was from Tina
Marshall at her CBPP E-mail address.) I can find no record of corporate
registration for DCFPI on the DCRA web site.
The poll didn't ask whether the particular resident answering the
poll would prefer to have his or her very own taxes raised to support
social services. Rather, it asks in general whether taxes should be held
down, as in taxes on someone else! As indicated in the prior issue of
themail, IRS data indicate that the minority of residents (around 6
percent) pay the bulk of the taxes (about 60 percent). So the average
person answering the poll is likely to be someone receiving services
paid for by someone else, and therefore perfectly happy to see the other
person's taxes go up. It doesn't take a poll to know that everyone will
answer “Don't tax you, don't tax me, tax that fellow behind the
tree.”
###############
Re: [Gary's] piece in themail [May 11] about polling and the DCFPI's
supposed bias. He mentions a probable source of bias was the presumably
over-representation of Democrats in the sample. While this might be true
if you try to take the results and imply they are valid for the region
or country, DC is overwhelmingly Democratic (going more than 90 percent
for Obama in 2008). So I guess I don't really see what his point is? Is
he concerned the poll only looked at likely voters? But then again, the
opinion of those who are not interested in participating in the civic
area pretty much are asking to be ignored anyway. [Gary's] other point,
that the questions were crafted from the DCFPI's perspective, could be
valid, but not the idea that they didn't talk about government services
being ineffective, wasteful, or fraudulent. I think most adults have a
preexisting opinions about the government services and don't need to be
told possible weaknesses of government work.
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This is to advise that the May 2011 issue PDF is available at http://www.intowner.com
and may be opened by clicking the front page graphic on the home page.
There will be found news, commentary, and features content, including
the popular Scenes from the Past (this month titled "Venerable
Harvey's Restaurant Remembered") — plus all photos and other
images.
This month's lead stories include the following: “Major West End
Re-Development Project Designs Unveiled — Luxury Boutique Hotel for
Adams Morgan Continues to Divide”; “After Four Years of Controversy
Christian Science Church Near White House on Track to Get New Home as
Part of Office Complex”; and “Logan Circle Activist Donates Art to
School.”
The next issue PDF will publish early in the morning of June 10 (the
second Friday of the month as usual). For more information, either send
an E-mail to newsroom@intowner.com
or call 234-1717.
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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
On Monday, May 23, from 6:00-8:00 p.m., the Council for Court
Excellence will host a panel of experts who will discuss issues related
to confidentiality and DC juvenile justice records and proceedings. The
program will be held at the DC Court of Appeals Ceremonial Courtroom.
Topics will include: the impact of the new law on reporting and
lawyering; the social considerations of open and closed proceedings; the
impact on children, whether they are victims or accused; and the
experience in other jurisdictions. Panelists include Judge Zoe Bush, DC
Superior Court; Jason Cherkis, Washington City Paper; Robert Hildum, DC
Office of the Attorney General; Hannah McElhinny, DC Public Defender
Service; Daniel Okonkwo, DC Lawyers for Youth; and Dr. Jennifer L.
Woolard, Georgetown University. The program will be moderated by Mark
Segraves of WTOP/WJLA.
The event will be held in the DC Court of Appeals Ceremonial
Courtroom, 430 E Street, NW. There is no charge for this event. Please
RSVP your attendance to Peter Willner at willner@courtexcellence.org
or 785-5917.
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CLASSIFIEDS — PERFORMANCE ARTISTS
Calling All Performance Artists
Ebony Blanks, ebony.blanks@dc.gov
The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities is seeking all genres of
hip hop performers for the eighth annual Dance DC Festival on July
22-24. Dancers, emcees, b-boys, go-go bands, DJ's, steppers, graffiti
artists, and musicians, we are looking for you. Visit http://www.dcarts.dc.gov
to apply; application deadline is June 8.
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themail@dcwatch is an E-mail discussion forum that is published every
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