User-agent: * Allow: / Legal news, political opinion, Satire, and lawyer thinking by Tim Paynter, Attorney at Law: 2010-02-28

Why Not Twitter This?

Saturday, March 6, 2010

You tube reacts to Pennsylvania school spying, lmsd class action law suit, Herriton Senior High school spy cam


You Tube reacts to Pennsylvania school spying
Webcam school spy not popular!

Gizmodo says just a little device to spy on students, now let's talk about rulers...



Blake J. Robbins v. LMSD says it in his own words...



Highland Hill Farms does not want your business LMSD, he wasn't going to get it anyway...oh and watch out for liberal Democrats!  He really meant to say, conservative Republicans!



Rant-o-clock slowly makes a few points, just be glad he is not from Tennessee!



These are just accusations, we (only) had to pay an $80 security deposit and that is it!
Great school pride, but how much is your privacy worth?  $80? Is that it?



some kids are just pleasuring themselves


It was an STI, not an STD...



Tim Paynter says:

"When we allow our schools to shatter all notions of unreasonable searches and seizures and the violation of the expectation of privacy using spy cameras in our private spaces, then we have taught our youth, as future governors, what the standards should be for America."

Friday, March 5, 2010

Deputy Jailer violates "bodily integrity" in Carter County Detention Center, indicted for sexual abuse


Deputy Jailer, Hollingsworth,
indicted for sexual abuse
Inmate Squeels
County mum on whether victim is male or female!

The Carter County Detention Center, a fancy word for the pokey, is a dangerous place to be if you are a virgin, or if you just want to stay alive!

Keith D. Hollingsworth, a deputy jailer and maintance man at the Carter County Detention Center in Grayson, Ky., was indicted today on one count of sexual abuse of ward and one count of deprivation of rights under color of law. 

At least the two or more prisoners who accuse the jailer of forcing them to have sex with him are alive.  Over the past few years, two other inmates checked into the cross bar motel and never checked out.  Each was found hanged, their deaths ruled suicidal.

The photo is from the iraqi prisoner abuse scandal - did this man suffer sexual abuse to the extent of 'deprivation of bodily integrity', too?

The indictment against Hollignsworth alleges that in December of 2005 the 43 year old jailer and maintenance man from Olive Hill, Ky. engaged in sexual acts with an inmate who was in "official detention and under his supervision and disciplinary authority". Those are big words meaning the poor cat was not in hand cuffs on a roadside stop. Rather, he or she was front and center under the care and control of a maintenance man who was also vested with the responsibility of being a jailer.

Also, in June of 2007, Hollingsworth allegedly subjected a different inmate to sexual acts. "According to the indictment, the acts deprived the inmate of a constitutional right not to be deprived of liberty which includes 'bodily integrity'".  The careful use of words in the press release leave on wondering what part of the body lost it's "integrity".  While the pharase could apply to a woman, it is so carefully worded it leaves one wondering.

This indictment has been long comming.  a prior press release some time ago made the announcesment.  However, it was recalled shortly thereafter. 

James A. Zerhusen, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, and Timothy D. Cox, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, jointly made the announcement today after a federal grand jury in Ashland, Ky. returned the indictment.

The investigation preceding the indictment was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The indictment was presented to the grand jury by Assistant United States Attorney Patrick H. Molloy.

If convicted, Hollingsworth faces a maximum prison sentence of 15 years.  Jailers and maintenance men don't usually last long in maximum security prisons.  They don't have to call it suicide in the big house when an inmate is lynched. 

The indictment of a person by a grand jury is an accusation only, warns the press release writer.  A person is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

LMSD Folding Tent, Computer Web cam in schools, FBI investigates school spy cam, Pensylvania school due for court


When the tent should fold
rather than the show always going on

You can bet things are getting a little out of hand in the Rosemont, Pennsylvania web cam case. By now just about everyone on the planet knows the Lower Merion School District and Chris McGinley are in a heap of trouble for spying on Blake Robbins using school issued computer web cams.

The question is, where do we go from here?

A good attorney assess his case before he begins to bellow. If I were looking at a class action law suit staring my client down the throat, plus the possibility of criminal charges, my advice would be to put the ego on the shelf and eat crow.

Not likely here, the show must always go on!

Folding the big top early in a case like this can solve a lot of problems. Right now, this is mostly about egos and outrageous acts and the violation of Constitutional rights and the excitement of being the center of national attention. A little later this is going to be about money, free college educations and legal precedents. It is going to be a lot cheaper to settle this case now and swallow cud then if the wild fire blazes out of control.

"The school board should make a healthy financial contribution to someone, somewhere"

Swallowing cud is an expression folks in cow and ranching country use to say, "Stop the grandstanding, Herbert.  You are about to cost us a lot of money!"

How do you do that? The school district admits guilt without extending that guilt to any of the parties involved. It takes a bit of lawyering talent and speaking out of both sides of your mouth, but in case criminal charges are filed, it is a necessary step. It can also sway the decision to file criminal charges in the first place when all parties cry ‘no ball no foul’ and get back to the game.

Assuming you buy my theory, along with a massive loss of face, the school district should make a healthy financial contribution to someone somewhere. Sometimes it comes in the form of money damages to the Plaintiff, in this case, Master Robbin. They could throw in a free trip to Washington DC for the LMSD school board and administrators so each can study the Constitution on home ground. Of course, the students might go along, all expenses paid, too.  Someone needs to make sure the school officials hit the books!


Sometimes these kinds of settlements can cost a little more or a little less, but one thing is for sure:  If the Plaintiffs are able to prove their case and the super lawyers have to invest an ocean of time and buy laptops for an army of newly hired paralegals, it is going to cost a lot more in the long run. Judges are more likely to listen to the ‘no jail time’ argument if it gets to the criminal phase, as well.  And the Robbins family gets to stick around the community.

What am I talking about? An unanticipated side effect for being in the middle of a community split is the over-whelming sense that one is not welcome by all of those guys on the other side of the grand canyon.  If the self appointed arbiters of justice, the LMSD Parents, keep whipping up the spray, along with a gleeful press, the split will only widen.

For example, surfing the web, I found an immigrant who titled his blog The innocent righteous who thinks spying on children while in their home with mum is fine.  He has three daughters at Herriton Senior High School.  Do you think he would change his mind if a pic of one of his daughters shows up on the school spy pic site?

"Judges are more likley to listen to 'no jail time' arguments
from attorneys"

We know it is too late for reconciliation.

Or maybe we don't know. 

While I personally think intentions to bust the laws of privacy and the notions of decency into a billion pieces were very clear, and likely criminal, at the end of the day aren't we all sure these are pretty decent people?   We all make mistakes.  For the Robbins family, the LMSD, the students and faculty at Herriton Senior High School and the community, continuing this battle will be yet another mistake.  At least it will be quite a show!  Hey Lyn, pass me another box of  Mike and Ike's!

Tim Paynter is an attorney, a free lance writer, an activist for the rights of immigrants, children’s rights, the poor and the oppressed. Paynter says part of his inspiration comes from having an immigrant grandfather and once being a child.

google images, the big top tent, and various sites on the web.

Child clings to life, family needs help, can U?


It always helps me to put things into perspective.  I feel for Blake Robbins as he posed for his school administrators on his computer web cam, maybe dressed and maybe naked, according to speculation.  The issue is, he didn't know he was being watched at all!  The school admits to playing peeping tom and invading the privacy every 15 year old should expect to have.

Meanwhile, an 11 year old is having a time of it, as well.  He wants to be a soccer star.  Right now, he is fighting for his life.  The family is seeking donations.

I have stayed off of the story for quite awhile.  My Salazar family contact is heart broken.  Insisting on the latest news would be unfair.  Suffice it to say, after multiple operations, the removal of a healthy part of eduardo's colon, and a lot of support from those who know these wonderful people, the tike is still with us!

If you are in from Heriton Senior High School, or from anywhere for that matter, why not take a few minutes away from the whirl wind of fate and count your blessings.  After that, if you feel a twinge in your heart, why not send the Salazar family a donation?  Their problems are a lot bigger than mine!

Tim Paynter
Attorney at Law
120 South Kalamath St.
Denver, Co., 80223

FREE FILE free tax prep and filing on the net! Free File - No Kidding, free tax prep and tax filing!


Free file 
free tax prep and tax filing on the net!
Tax date is around the corner, are you ready? 

If you are strapped for cash there are ways to get that difficult return done for free!


Cash flow cow!
1000 ways to make money!
Click the link and see what works for you!  Free web site!


Free File taxes for free!

"The Free File program provides free federal income tax preparation and electronic filing for eligible taxpayers through a partnership between the Internal Revenue Service and the Free File Alliance LLC, a group of private sector tax software companies.

Many companies offer free or paid state tax preparation and efiling services. Some companies may not offer state tax preparation and e-file services for all states."
The Free File program will help you find a tax preparer to suit your needs.  Click on the link and see if it works for you!

The free file people want you to know:
Offers are based on various criteria including your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI), the state you live in, whether you are eligible for EITC, active in the military, or your age.

Free File is available only to taxpayers with a maximum AGI of $57,000. Some companies have set a lower income limit. If the AGI is not specified by the company, the maximum for the company is $57,000.

Carefully review the Free File offer before you start your return. Some companies charge a fee for state tax returns.

The information you provide is used to help narrow down the companies you are eligible to choose from. Your information is entirely anonymous and will not be retained or used for any determination of tax liability.

Companies are not required to support all the forms and schedules to participate in Free File so you should check the company's website to determine which forms are available. 

 
Support my blog on exploited children!

Help a child in need!

Tell us about your child!

Report a child at risk!


Nose around a bit if you like the blog.  We would love to have you subscribe!  We have a lot of information on various legal topics, for example Blake J. Robbins v. LMSD is a case about a kid who was spied upon by his school using lap top computers!
 

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

lmsdparents refuse entrance to Mark Haltzman FBI probe in pennsylvania web case


LMSD Parents (lmsdparents.org) refuses attorney Mark Haltzman entrance in
Pennsylvania web cam scandal
If there were not opposition to the Blake J. Robbins v. LMSD (Lower Marion School District) lawsuit one would have to be surprised. Actually, there were no surprises in the Lower Merion School District Parents meeting.

The people who have closed minds about suing the school district after it admitted taking secret snap shots of students, sometimes in their homes, are also closed minded when it comes to hearing the other side of the coin.  

The other side could have easily been presented by Mark Haltzman, attorney for Blake Robbins, who is suing the Lower Marion School District after he found out they were peeping on him through a computer web cam while he was in the privacy of the family home.  Blake was dining on Mike and Ike's candies  when the school administrators took the shot, or shots. That is when the fire works began.

"Ms. Lyn thought Blake was dining on pills, and lots of them"

Young 15 year old Blake was called on the carpet for "improper behavior" by Vice Principal Lyn Matsko. It is too bad Lynn didn't do her homework. Mike and Ike's would not take kindly to a teen feasting on the fruity candies being called "improper behavior".  As it turned out, Ms. Lyn thought Blake was dining on pills, and lots of them!  The photo to the left is from ZD.net

A class action law suit was filed, LMSD fessed up, but now they want to play both sides of the coin. On the one side, they admit to the spying.  They had to do that much.  On the other side of the coin they tacitly encourage students and parents to do their dirty work for them.  

That brings us to LMSD Parents. They made it official, I guess, because they now have their own website, lmsdparents.org. I guess it makes them look even more official because they used ".org" instead of ".com". This is a group of well meaning but ignorant parents who are tying to figure out how to fight the suit filed on behalf of master Robbins.

"Fortunately, even those who remain ignorant can procreate"

Why do I say they are ignorant? Well, they are not willing to listen to the other side. Closed minds usually breed ignorance. For example, according to Philly.com, Jamie Singer from the .Org said:

"It makes no sense to me. It's like I'm suing myself,"

Jaime got into the meeting the attorney Mark Haltzman was locked out of because Jaime has two students in Herriton High School where young Robbins was confronted.  Fortunately, even those who remain ignorant can procreate.  Haltzman, on the other hand, might have had something to say. 

A comment like, "Why does it make sense to sue the people who were taking pictures of my children, possibly while in various states of undress?" is a logical question. It might be followed up with "Am I suing myself?"

Jaime wasn't asking whether a law suit was wise. He was telling us without having first consulted with a professional.  (I presume Jaime is a he, they would not let me into the meeting, either, had I asked)  Telling us which side to be on without listening to the other side is the kind of attitude that usually breeds ignorance.  And arrogant.

Ignorance is when you refuse to listen to the other side because you are sure you have all of the answers.  Arrogance is when you insist you are right while maintaining a hopeless state of ignorance.  Not letting Blake Robbin's attorney into the meeting guaranteed ignorance.  Watch the arrogance follow.  

"A lawsuit of this nature usually holds people accountable"

Let me give those who have open minds something to think about. The rest of you should go back to the meeting because no matter how many times you read this it won't help.

To begin with, a lawsuit of this nature holds people accountable for violating every notion of privacy and civility that makes up the fabric of our nation. A lot of our grand parents and great grand parents came to this country because they feared the camera well hidden. Next comes the knock at the door in the middle of the night.  There are no class action law suits in countries like that. You are guilty even if you are not guilty.

We should distinguish between school pride and wrong doing by LMSD officials. No one is attacking a state of the art teaching facility and wonderful teachers that are in Herriton Senior High School.  Nor is there an attack against the institution of learning. 

What is being attacked are outrageous acts on behalf of school administrators and board members who have also maintained themselves in a state of ignorance. Most of them probably have not studied the 4th Amedment to the U.S. Constitution nor do they understand the basic notions of the expectation of privacy and unreasonable searches and seizures.  I am sure they will disagree.   

At least we can say, most of them have not studied the laws regarding privacy in computing.  The Electronic Computer Privacy Act (ECPA) makes it illegal to intercept or listen in on computer communicatons.  They can get access to these laws on the internet.  Even on a laptop!

Those who have no interest in listening want to confuse the issues. Stand up for your school board. Stand behind your school. Don't sue yourself.

Don't buy into it.  This has nothing to do with schools or education or quality teachers.  It has to do with people who intended to do wrong and got caught.

Not all will agree with me about the intent.  Some will say these people only wanted to protect students and recover stolen lap tops.  Once again, confusion.  One can have a lofty goal, but if one intentionally breaks the law to get there then you cannot say they had good intentions.  Either they entered into what is already a self professed state of ignorance-even some of them will insist they were ignorant, or they knew law and arrogantly broke it on premise they were the government and could do as they wanted.

"An insurance company could pay out a lot of the money"

Now, for the suing yourself question.  If the suit is successful, tax payers could be paying out a fair amount of money.  That includes all tax payers including those who don't have students in Herrinton High.  Surely the school board has officers and director's insurance.  In that case, an insurance company could pay out a lot of money instead of the tax payers.
The picture of McGinley to the right is from Philly.com

Then there is personal liability.  The school board members and Christopher McGinley might want to think about estate planning and transferring ownership of assets right now.  Just kidding. It is too late.  While the system will likely pay for legal defense, the system may or may not pay for damages if they are assessed.  That leaves school board members and Christopher between a rock and a hard place.

That is where people who do bad things should be. 
Money is beside the point. What this case is really about is making sure this kind of thing does not happen again. A little reflection time in a jail cell will help, if it comes to that. Money damages, however, are what school boards listen to the most. If the District has to pay for this intentional act of arrogance and ignorance, then it will be the last time you will have to worry about school administrators seeing your daughter naked on a school generated computer web program.

The evidence has yet to come out. You can bet there is serious sweating going on in the District right now. What are they going to do about the explicit photographs we have not seen yet? If these photographs have been already destroyed, well it may be a stroke of genius or it may be another stroke of stupidity and ignorance, depending upon whether they get caught!

One last thought for those of you who stuck around long enough to read this blog.  Ignorance and arrogance don't come from stupid people.  They come from people who are scared witless. Afraid of reputations and damage to egos, afraid they are wrong.  They are afraid of other people's children, so spying is o.k.  Ignorance is usually a choice.

Let's just hope, for their sake, none of their children show up in compromising situations in the photos!  That would be enough to scare the living daylights out of anyone!

According to reports, Mark Haltzman made a good point:

 "It is critical that someone independent of the Lower Merion School District investigate to what extent each student's privacy rights have been violated," 
 
My greatest errors have come as a result of action before investigation.  The information in this article comes from a fair amount of investigating on the web, but it is nothing more than an opinion.  No one has been proven guilty of anything.  No money judgments have been won.  Blake is asking you is to let a jury of your peers make the decision as to what was right and wrong in the Pennsylvania school web video spying case, and the responsibility of the LMSD and administrators in a well to do area of Philadelphia, P.A.  Each person must make his own mind up where he stands on law suits and video taping people without their consent in their homes.  The ones who will make intelligent decisions are the one's who listen to both sides before making a decision.

Pennsylvania web cam spying - case study in how computers saved school, Blake Robbins

Urban School Justifies 
Web Cam 
Pennsylvania spy cam violates human dignity 
FBI investigating

FRONTLINE: digital nation: learning: schools: how google saved a school PBS

There are two problems with the spy cams in laptops sent home with students of Herriton Senior High School in Pennsylvania.  First, the Lower Marion School District didn't bother to tell the students they had the capability of remote viewing, much less viewing at all.  Second, even with disclosure, the cameras can be activated unilaterally, that is, by the school staff without the student knowing it.

You can bet when the school administor excitedly gave the news to the students about being one of the first schools to send laptops home with them he was grinning ear to ear like a chesire cat!  He must have known the spy technology was there and the school planned to use it yet he said nothing.  Laptop page here!
"Every high school student will have their own person laptop enabling an authentic movile 21st century learning environment"
Presumably, only two people were allowed to screen images taken without the student's permission.  That is a stretch of the truth, as we know the assistand vice principal of Herriton Senior High School Lindy Matsko presented Blake Robbins with a picture the school took of him while he feasted on Mike and Ikes candies in the privacy of his home.  Are there two photo people, one for each sex?  Or is looking at pics on the internet only a guy's thing?

"Coud there be something more to the smile?"

This represents a major breach of trust between Herriton faculty and the student population.  How can a young girl or a young boy know the smile on an administrator's face is based solely on good tidings towards the student?  Could there be something more to the smile?  Does the person know something maybe they should not?  Did the teacher or disciplinarian get a first hand peep at private parts or sexual activity?

What if one of those students got caught in homosexual activity and the administrator knows?  Not all administrators are liberal thinking, while others might try to pry when they should not.  We know that did not happen at Herriton Senior High School, but it will eventually happen somewhere if this trend continues. 

Actually, do we know it didn't happen at Herriton High? 

That is the problem.  We don't know. 



Presumably, the school staff is telling the truth about who had access to the videos.  However, when the staff violated, as in raped, the trust of the students by using this secret technology, all trust went out the window.  Trust is something earned, not bought or demanded.  It will take a long time for trust to grow, and for the smile on administrator's faces and likely for some, the thoughts behind the smiles to be taken seriously. 

"Let's let the students drop in on teacher and
 administrator lap tops"

The second problem with the spy cam is it can be activated without student consent and perhaps without student knowlede.  Even if a green light indicates the government is peeping in, one would have to be constantly vigilant to know exactly when the camera is activated.  Laptops would need to be carefully guarded and strategically placed to protect privacy.  That is an unfair task to put on anyone and eventually sure to fail.

If we are going put the task of constant vigilence upon the student body then it seems only fair to reciprocate.  Let's let the students drop in on teacher and administrator lap tops whenever they wish.  It would be interesting to see what really goes on in the teacher's lounge!  Violation of any kind always seem better to the person who violates than to the person violated.  Put the shoe on the other foot, tell us how it feels!

"Hey Mindy, yeah, Ms. Matsko, Uhh you might want to turn your computer off...or at least turn it the other direction.  There are people watching!"

The school in the public service Front Line video implies the ability to watch students saved the school. Such an interpretation is a stretch. What may have saved the schools was an introduction of modern day technology. Use of the cams is another matter.

At least the students understood the cams could be activated. In addition, the computers didn't leave the school as far as I can tell. That keeps the computers on the desk and not in bedrooms and private places. Activation is still an invasion of privacy, but at least the chances of catching an under age boy or girl in states of undress, or while he or she explores kissing and intimacy, are highly reduced when the computer stays in the school.

My vote, vote for Blake Robbins and the family that has the guts to stand up against unlawful instrusion.  Protect your privacy rights now.  If you don't, tomorrow will be too late!

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

FBI investigates Pennsylvania school spy cam in school - web cam in computer violates privacy, Blake Robbins says no to school spy cams!





Pennsylvania school laptop spy cam or web cam,

FBI investigates
Blake Robbins Rocks!
Go Herriton High!
Question: How do you know when someone is scared senseless they are about to be indicted for criminal activity?


Answer: When they hire an attorney before they get arrested.


Question: How do you know someone is scared senseless they are about to be indicted for criminal activity and they are guilty as hell?

Answer: When the attorney they hire is an ex-D.A.

Just because the Lower Merion School District hired former D.A. Henry E. Hockeimer Jr. to advise them about their spying on students using the web cam in lap top computers does not make the district guilty of criminal wire tap laws.  However, It makes them look guilty as hell...and they probably are. 

Herriton Senior High School
View Larger Map

"Will young people refuse computers for fear adult eyes will watch them come of age?"

Herriton High School located in the well-to-do Lower Merion School District of Philadelphia, PA, sent Apple computers home with most of the 2,300 students.  The goal was to give every student a chance at modern computing and 24 hour internet access. 

The school district got the modern computing part right.  What they got wrong was turning the gift of education into a spy machine.  Incredibly, the school secretly inserted software that allowed them to take prictures of students using the computer web cam without anyone knowing they were doing it. 

It is absurd for the school to claim their surreptitous pictures would not be taken in deeply private places, like bathrooms and bedrooms.  Nothing in my research suggests the school has made such claim.
That leaves the Lower Merion School District devising a way to spy on under-age teens and their parents in a way that would make the most inventive peeping tom jealous.

In the process of over-reaching government authority, the school district has destroyed the trust and bond between teachers and stuents necessary for the quality education the school purports to give.  They have set the "every student gets a computer" movement back ages.  How can schools in poor districts convince students to take advantage of a program like this?  Those who suffer great poverty already have a mistrust for their government.  As it turns out, those in affluent school districts should have mis-trusted the Herriton Senior High School administrators.

We know the school had only the best of intentions.  That is why they activated the cameras 42 times in 14 months.  That is why they arrogantly spat back at allegations of spying, instead of humbly admitting their error.  A Fox News article, for example, is titled "School District Fights Back".  And that is also why they hired ex-DA Henry.  Henry Hockeimer Jr., by the way, turns out not only to be an ex-DA, but an ex-federal prosecuting attorney, a kind of hired gun likely retained to make local and federal investigators think twice.  It won't work.

"Blake Robbins likes Mike and Ike's"

Although we don't know how the topic was broached, school personel asked Blake Robbins to meet with them.  Imagine Harriton Senior High vice principal Lindy Matsko smugly confronting the 15 year old student with what school officials viewed as "improper activity".  In my day that would have been excessive masturbation, but it was a simpler world back then.  According to reports, this confrontation between the school and a 15 year old, Likely not the first confrontation between student and administrator considering there were 41 spy sessions before it, was about illegal drug use.

Unfortunately for Ms. Lindy and for the school district, young Blake likes Mike and Ike's.  They are a zingy sugar treat that come in multiple colors and look remotely like amphetamines.  Remotely.

"The school was looking for Blake's lost computer, an item he never reported stolen, duh..."

By process of deduction, the school was looking for Blake's lost computer, an item he never reported stolen, duh...  We have to deduce because the school won't say.  Harriton High School spokesman Douglass Young did indicate the school would never activate their remote spy camera for disciplinary reasons.  They only used it to locate computers like the one which Blake never reported stolen.  Why, then, did the school administrators activate the spy cam in Blake's computer?  Why won't they make the 'lost computer' claim in this case?

Blake J. Robbins v. LMSD says it in his own words...


If you are having trouble following spokesman Young's logic, you understand why a subpoena reportedly has been issued.  Both civil and criminal litigators want to know what other pictures the school has on file, and likely whether there are some sticky palms in the photo review lab.  These kinds of images tend to get misplaced, so for the benefit of all parties the attorneys want to preserve this evidence.  It will be interesting to see whether the school district finds reasons to object.

"They thought I was popping pills when really I was just eating Mike & Ikes"

Young Blake has his own theory about the outrageous intrusion: 

"They thought I was selling drugs because they thought I was popping pills when really I was just eating Mike & Ikes. So they thought that I could possibly be selling drugs, too – which they found out they were wrong about," the boy told reporters. "I just hope that they're not watching me."

Apparently, what the spy in the sky saw while the school district was attempting to recover a computer that was never missing was Blake stuffing down tutty frutys.  If you ever had Mike and Ike's you know why no one eats just one. 

The school mistook the web cam images as a 15 year old who was into dealing drugs.  In another complete lack of common sense, take a look at the pictures of Blake in his boxing match below.  He hardly looks like the drug dealer type.  That should have been a tip off something was wrong, but then, these fools seemed clueless about basic notions of privacy from the very start.  
Article continued below
==========
************
==========
How the spy cam works. 
Details you should know! 

 More insight at  Kevin's Security Scrapbook
==========
***********
==========

Blake must have a lot on the ball because he didn't take the spy session kindly.  Neither did his parents, Michael and Holly Robbins.  If this had been a poor school district there might have been a protesting phone call which would have been soundly ignored.  In this case, an entire school board with rocks in their heads forgot a well known fact.  Well-to-do families have the means to hire attorneys, and that is what the Robbins family did. 

"Hurting pups come in liters"

Mark Haltzman, Steven Levin and Frank Schwartz from the law firm of Lamm and Rubenstone have asked the Court to certify the case as a class action law suit.  If they are successful they will, by default, represent the entire student body at Herriton High.  Considering the evidence, even though the Merion School District is located in an affluent area of Philly, the school district is about to be a hurting pup!

Hurting pups come in liters.  The Merion School District is not the only defendant.  The lawsuit names the board of directors and school superintendent Christopher W. McGinley.  One would hope this does not discourage interest in running for the board of directors of your local school board.  Rather, one would hope candidates would take the walnuts out of their heads before they run. 

"a lot of students could have free educations instead
of free laptops"

School administrators in general, on the other hand, have always been a hopeless cause in the walnut department.  Christopher may be the exception, but the school board has good reason to pay for independent legal counsel for both Christopher and the entire board of directors.  Since each defendant has conflicting interests from the others, each defendant should have his own attorney.  The legal fees alone could be astronomical.  If the District losses, let's just say a lot of students could have free educations instead of free laptops.

Meanwhile, a group of well meaning but wholly ignorant parents are meeting to oppose certification of the student body as a class.  They call themselves lmsdparents.org which presumably stands for Lower Merion School District Parents.  The original title is apparantly named after the Lower Marion School Districts newsletter which is titled lmsd.org.  The group is headed by  Bob Wegbreit , Tom Grady, Larry Silver and Michael Boni.  It would be interesting to see which of the four rocket scientists has the biggest ego.
============
Blake Robbins is no push over!


Does he look like a druggie to you? Probably not, but this isn't Blake anyway... is it?


============

Face it boys, laptops end up in private places like toilets and bedrooms and who knows, even the back seat of a car.  If you let government cameras into your intimate places then you might as well say good by to notions of freedom.  Maybe you don't see your school board as 'government'.  Trust me, your kids do. 

You likely will join your kid when a vice principal like Lindy Matsko calls you in to tell you they caught Jr. naked with his future wife in the classroom, and by the way, they have it all in snap shots if you want it for the wedding album!  Those who oppose the lawsuit could find out the hard way, most of us leave laptops running all of the time, and the camera is indiscriminate.  The pics could have been of Blake's parents in private moments had Herriton Senior High School had more bad luck!

A few folks in the Lower Merion School District know they are in hot water.  They don't have any problems manipulating well meaning students and parents playing on the theme, 'school pride'.  They say their intentions were good even if they forgot to tell everyone about playing spy.  They still have not admitted that taking the pictures under any circumstances would be a massive invasion of privacy.

One of the hardest lessons in life is learning actions count, not words.  Understanding that someone who slides their thumb up the brown hole on your back side while telling you what a great friend they are is the most insideous enemy you can have.  Spying on 15 year olds, girls too, is not the action of a well meaning friend.  Manipulating the PTA to take your side, and even attorny Boni, when you know you are wrong, wrong, wrong, is not the the action of a well meaning friend.

Everyone is innocent until proven guilty and that includes rocks and walnuts.  The views expressed in this post are an opinion, made upon my best knowledge, information and belief.  Honestly, I don't know much beyond what I read.  The Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman, as well as the FBI, may want to know more, though.  More about that as events develop.

This is history in the Making: The Pennsylvania lower Merion School District at Herriton High, Blake Robbins, Lindy Matsko, Christopher W. McGinley, Henry E. Hockeimer Jr., spokesman Douglass Young, and lmsdparents.org will all play a part in how far your government can go in policing your children, and eventually you.  Can we or can we not activate spy cams in laptops carried into intimate places without telling anyone about it?  Should our government be able to activate them even if they do tell you?

If it ends up at the Supreme Court, attorney Mark Haltzman with Lamm Rubenstone will make a good argument about why this is an outrageous abuse of power.  In my opinion, a school board that permits this kind of over-sight is incredibly arrogant in thinking it can supervise your child better than you can, while the teenager is sitting in front of you, in your own living room.  In the alternative, this board of directors is incredibly stupid and uneducated about the law and basic civil rights.  In either case, the way we dissuade this thinking is through money damages, and lots of them.  The 4X6 cell comes next!

Blake Robbins says no to Harriton spy cam, Stryde Hax The Spy at Harriton High

Spy Tools for Invasion of Privacy... stryde hax -
How to tell what is your kid or
your parent doing right now...
Blake Robbins at Herriton High in the
Lower Merion School District 
has the courage to bring this issue to the forefront!




Stryde Hax: The Spy at Harriton High: "excerpt"