An Oklahoma high school suspended a

15-year-old student after accusing her of casting a magic spell

that caused a teacher to become sick, lawyers for the student

said on Friday.

The American Civil Liberties Union said it had filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on behalf of student Brandi Blackbear, charging that the assistant principal of Union Intermediate High School in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, suspended her for 15 days last December for supposedly casting a spell.

The suit also charged the Tulsa-area Union Public Schools with repeatedly violating Blackbear’s civil rights by seizing notebooks she used to write horror stories and barring her from drawing or wearing signs of the pagan religion Wicca.

“It’s hard for me to believe that in the year 2000 I am walking into court to defend my daughter against charges of witchcraft brought by her own school,” said Timothy Blackbear, Brandi’s father.

‘Outlandish Accusations’

Joann Bell, executive director of the ACLU’s Oklahoma chapter, said the “outlandish accusations” had made Blackbear’s life at school unbearable.

“I, for one, would like to see the so-called evidence this school has that a 15-year-old girl made a grown man sick by casting a magic spell,” Bell said.

A lawyer for the school district declined to comment.

The lawsuit, filed on Thursday, alleges that Blackbear was summoned to the office of assistant principal Charlie Bushyhead last December after a teacher fell ill, and was questioned about her interest in Wicca.

According to the lawsuit, Brandi Blackbear had read a library book about Wicca beliefs and, under aggressive interrogation by Bushyhead, said she might be a Wiccan. In fact, Blackbear is a Roman Catholic, according to the newspaper Tulsa World.

“The interview culminated with Defendant Bushyhead accusing Plaintiff, Brandi Blackbear, of casting spells causing (a teacher at the school) ... to be sick and to be hospitalized,” the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit stated that because of the “unknown cause” of the teacher’s illness, Bushyhead advised the 15-year-old girl “that she was an immediate threat to the school and summarily suspended her for what he arbitrarily determined to be a disruption of the education process.”

....It’s hard for me to believe that in the year 2000.......

 d-usa wrote:
How many students pray for a teacher to get sick on test day?

Do we investigate all sickness for divine or magical intervention?

TULSA, Okla. — A high school student has lost her lawsuit that claimed she was suspended because of her interest in the Wicca religion.

Brandi Blackbear, a senior-to-be at Union Intermediate High School, filed her federal lawsuit in October 2000.

An July 18 order by U.S. District Judge Claire Eagan said neither of Blackbear’s two suspensions in 1999 violated her constitutional rights.

Eagan said Blackbear testified during a deposition that she is not, has never been and has never wanted to be a Wiccan. The judge also said Blackbear admitted that the defendants have not done anything to keep her from practicing any religion.

“In view of this testimony, the court finds that Brandi does not hold a sincere belief in the religion of Wicca,” Eagan wrote in the order.

Union Public Schools attorney Doug Mann called the lawsuit “absolutely ridiculous.”

District Superintendent Cathy Burden said the case became an “international media event” that put Union in an unfair light. The “frivolous lawsuit,” she said, cost the district more than $100,000 in legal fees.

Eagan’s order also said Blackbear has admitted that religion played no role in the decision to discipline her in December 1999.

Blackbear’s attorney John M. Butler said he thinks the order may not be “exactly correct” on those points and said his client’s purported statements may have been “taken out of context.”

The judge wrote that Blackbear stated in a “self-serving” affidavit that she stopped studying Wicca as a result of allegations supposedly made by a school official.

The order indicates that Blackbear received a five-day out-of-school and 10-day in-school suspension for “disrupting the educational process.”

Specifically, two of Blackbear’s classmates had alleged they were “fearful” because she allegedly was claiming to be a witch and to possess the power to harm people by casting spells on them, the order states.

Burden said July 18 that the suspension had nothing to do with religion and everything to do with Blackbear’s “terrorizing” students.

She said the whole “religious freedom” allegation appeared to be a ploy to make the lawsuit more exciting to the media.

The order states that Blackbear also was suspended in late April 1999 for 19 days for making threats against students.

Butler said an appeal is probable and expressed optimism that Blackbear will prevail at that level.

Burden said Blackbear is now a “successful student in our district.”

 d-usa wrote:
How the hell did it pop up as new news for me?

Witchcraft I say!

 kronk wrote:
15 days for that bs? I'm not a litigious person by any use of the word, but 'd sue everyone involved. The school, the principal, the district, the state...

 d-usa wrote:
Damn Redditors...

 Dreadclaw69 wrote:
Sorry d, it must be. Even at the top of the page when you click your link it says "Jan 7, 2006, 9:53 AM". Now would you like tech support from the Adeptus Mechanicus, or the Inquisition?

Specifically, two of Blackbear’s classmates had alleged they were “fearful” because she allegedly was claiming to be a witch and to possess the power to harm people by casting spells on them, the order states.

Burden said July 18 that the suspension had nothing to do with religion and everything to do with Blackbear’s “terrorizing” students