First legal action to come out of CT Tragedy

Again I find myself in an apparent minority..

The question becomes quiet simple..


Was there anything a school board could have done to prevent this from happening?

The answer is:
Yes...

1)
www.star-telegram.com...

Harlod school district Texas

one armed teacher and the story would have been different...

2)
Random police stop bys or a police officer at the school


3)
emergency exit plans or reinforced doors...

There are simple cheap methods available to stop the killer cold... they took no actions to protect the children... None what so ever...

Was there any similar incidents in the US that would point to the need for said actions?
1) virginia tech

2)columbine

3)2012 Aurora shooting

4)2011 Tucson shooting

5)Fort Hood shooting

yes there are plenty of incidents to indicate the need for protection


Now the whole question becomes did anyone make the suggestion to protect children that was not followed...

If they present that... they can take the money to the bank...


I am on the victims side here... I hope they win... not my fault the school district choose to create gun zones... One armed teacher at this school and we would have had a different story...


I see a lot of money in there future... not to mention the ones whose kids where permanently victimized by gun control... imagine how much money will they get...

good for them

reply to post by caladonea


oh my poor child heard loud noises of other people getting killed but she is not dead like the other kids.. poor her.. can i have 100mil$.. right they are doing it for all the right reasons...

for 100mil she can have therapy every day of her life 3x a day and go to harvard for 15 years and come out with a couple DR degrees and still have $90mil in the bank not to mention im sure her parents will take their fair share of that after all they have to deal with the sadness of their daughter still being alive unlike all the other parents who lost their kids...

its people like this that make the schools so #ty they cant afford property security or books and computer they sue the schools out of proper education finance.

reply to post by PaperbackWriter


I honestly can't say how the children reacted or what their interviews were because we kept the news turned off because my youngest dreamed of this the night prior to it happening and I didn't want my kids seeing the reports on tv, especially the reports or interviews regarding the kids. I just don't understand why so many folks first response to everything is to sue.

reply to post by Jusvistn


What a freakin disgrace....really that's a shame and more so it really makes me loathe lawyers even more..

Originally posted by Asktheanimals
Great!
Maybe we'll all get to learn the facts about what really happened.
We learned a bit about OJ that way.

I'd sure like to think we will but 100 Million?? You think anyone in their right mind would allow that to see a Jury or a real court? A Jury who is real upset over this could actually PAY that. I'm sure that's lost on no one among those being sued.... I'm guessing they'll get millions, as their lawyer has told them this is about now and settlement will come soon enough with it's own NDA to hide the amount from the next ones to sue.

Personally, I'd wonder a bit about the parents who actually lost their children filing lawsuits this quick. Lets at least know who, if anyone but God and the Whims of Fate and the one who pulled the trigger were actually at fault is what I'd say.

As far as the intercom? If this is how it was filed in Court, I am sure it happened and about like they it's described. The fact no one made public statements just means no one cared that anyone outside the incident wanted to know...and so...didn't say every detail that happened. I'd have to say though, no lawyer intending to keep his license to practice more than about 10 minutes would file this based on intercom transmissions which no one heard and never happened?

wow, what a double-edged sword.

gut reaction is complete disdain for the entire concept.
i cannot reasonably support the $$ requested, that is outrageous.

i do support the contention that the school/board didn't do enough to protect/prevent such an intrusion and by policy, they made it impossible for a reasonable defense to be employed.

this really just makes my insides churn

reply to post by ripcontrol


Prove an armed guard could have stopped him. A dude just stole a cops gun and shot up a police station. Prove any of those things you implying could have 100% prevented this from happening and I'll say let them have the money too.

Now where do you suppose we get the money to implement all these saftey devices you wish for. If we could afford them we would have them but that's how the world works you either can afford saftey or you can't.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000

If this is how it was filed in Court

it hasn't been, yet.
the case has to be given permission to proceed to the "filing" phase.

from the article ...

Pinsky said he filed a claim on Thursday with state Claims Commissioner J. Paul Vance Jr., whose office must give permission before a lawsuit can be filed against the state.

reply to post by marbles87


I applaud your efforts... however I must disagree...

I never said armed guard... I said police officer with/or random stop by...

I can prove it...

First we start from an engineers perspective..

No machine is fool proof or continuous in operation...


Our first point is the security..

A police officer is already at most schools.. So those I dont have to count those

or can spend a random hour per shift stopping by
cost to school budget - max 0

note cost transferred to police department...


During next set of repairs for doors- put new ones in..
or like in DISD-
dont spend about 250000 on about 12 people (that is apiece) to improve the school buy new doors with locks..
Or perhaps apply for DoHS grants available

Those were small potatoes...

Escape fire drills where the door and hallway is blocked... run one a semester... teach the kids rally points, hide and seek, alternate exits... your have fire drills...


The program I was referring to was simple and zero cost...

Allow those teachers with CCP's to come to school packing...

I am wiling to bet that if you want for you to have it free..ask the NRA if they will do the additional cert's for classrooms..I am pretty sure they will run the classes...


As for your snooty comment you should read the whole story you claim to reference...The other ARMED people in the building ended the threat... or did you purposely forget that

3 versus 27... do the math.. it is a free solution...


The scenario is not popular... an armed teacher... what said it would be mostly liberals with guns... that does scare me...

by the way the media does not like running it, but it has happened where armed people put a quick end to these types of event...

I have really mixed feelings about a lawsuit like this one. On the one hand, it's quite possible that what was heard over the PA system and the reactions of the school staff may have saved their child's life in a terribly dangerous and tragic situation. On the other hand, if there was an armed police officer or an armed (and properly trained) member of the staff at the school it might have saved lives.

There is no way to ensure perfect safety or security at all times. Any security or law enforcement expert can tell you that. But there is one thing I was not aware of until I mentioned this thread to my wife. She replied that if they are going to sue someone for not sufficiently ensuring security in the school, they should be suing the federal government because the President and Congress cut funds for school security and safety! I found that hard to believe after some of the things that have happened over the last few years, so I did a quick Google search. She was right:

Obama administration, Congress quietly let school security funds lapse

...Government officials told the Washington Guardian on Friday night that two Justice Department programs that had provided more than $200 million to schools for training, security equipment and police resources over the last decade weren't renewed in 2011 and 2012, and that a separate program that provided $800 million to put police officers inside the schools was ended a few years earlier...

...last year, his [Obama's] administration took a less muted tone as it submitted its 2012 Education Department budget to Congress that eliminated the Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools (REMS) funding, which for years provided between $20 million and $30 million in annual grants to help schools create emergency and crisis preparation and prevention plans for tragedies just like the one that unfolded Friday.

The Education Department’s Web site says it last made REMS grants in 2011...

...Justice Department officials said the key programs that provided money directly to schools in the aftermath of Columbine have been phased out as of 2012, the last after the 2011 budget year.

For instance, the Secure Our Schools program provided more than $110 million in funding to law enforcement agencies to partner with schools for the purchase of crime prevention equipment, staff and student training between 2002 and 2011, officials said. It was ended this year.

Likewise, the School Safety Initiative provided more than $53 million between 1998 and 2010 in grants to help state and local agencies with delinquency prevention, community planning and development, and school safety resources – all aimed at preventing violence. The program ended in 2011...

SOURCE


I was shocked to learn that such school safety and security programs had been cut and I didn't even know it. I thought I should bring it to the attention of others who also might not have heard about it. It's not my intent to point fingers or place blame regarding what happened at Sandy Hook on anyone other than the shooter (unless there really was some sort of conspiracy behind this). But it does seem hypocritical at the very least for the President and Congress to cut funds intended to prevent such an incident and then blame guns.

I was about to post this and ran it by my wife, and she said, "You forgot to add that President Obama's kids have armed guards at school." I assumed that was true, but I Googled it just to be sure. Again, she was right. And it's not just Secret Service for the President's kids:

School Obama's Daughters Attend Has 11 Armed Guards

...Obama sends his kids to a school where armed guards are used as a matter of fact.

The school, Sidwell Friends School in Washington, DC, has 11 security officers and is seeking to hire a new police officer as we speak.

If you dismiss this by saying, "Of course they have armed guards -- they get Secret Service protection," then you've missed the larger point.

The larger point is that this is standard operating procedure for the school, period. And this is the reason people like NBC's David Gregory send their kids to Sidwell, they know their kids will be protected from the carnage that befell kids at a school where armed guards weren't used (and weren't even allowed).

SOURCE
Some last thoughts: After doing the research for this post, I guess my feelings are no longer mixed. I hope someone forwards this post to their lawyer and that all of this becomes widely known.

Originally posted by Honor93
reply to post by Wrabbit2000

 

If this is how it was filed in Court

it hasn't been, yet.
the case has to be given permission to proceed to the "filing" phase.

from the article ...

Pinsky said he filed a claim on Thursday with state Claims Commissioner J. Paul Vance Jr., whose office must give permission before a lawsuit can be filed against the state.

J.Paul Vance, Jr. Now why does that name seem familiar?
Oh yeah. His daddy is the State Police guy in charge of the Pressers.

At first I thought $100 mil is obviously a frivilous lawsuit considering the complaint.
Therefore, it would be duly dismissed before it reaches trial.
It is allowed to be filed because it gives backhand credence to the incident even though the circumstance of intercom has been called into question.
Now, this pretty much seals the deal on that being the case.
Drat.

Originally posted by Asktheanimals
Great!
Maybe we'll all get to learn the facts about what really happened.
We learned a bit about OJ that way.

Not if there's a media blackout and/or a settlement with a gag order.

ETA: This may be the lawyer who filed the suit: www.newhavenindependent.org...

I should hire this lawyer. My dog is traumatized and won't walk past the house anymore after the fight he got in with a pit bull.



$100 million dollars is pretty outrageous, but if this lawyer takes my case and I win, I won't complain.

Adam Lanza killed 28 people, a sick individual who took his sickness out on the most innocent of us. "The State Board of Education" did not enter that school and kill 28 people. Also, "The State Board of Education" did not do anything "to protect them" because they were forbidden to do so by a fascist, totalitarian gestapo that has no regard for human life.

And now this family has become the worst type of parasite, feeding on the lives lost by attempting to gain financially, exploiting the deaths for their own benefit. Their child is ALIVE. Where are the lawsuits from the parents of the dead? They, at least, would have some modicum of claim at least.

These people disgust me, and I hope the spend every last cent on this...then lose, becoming destitute.

/TOA

whoah, hang on a minute, when everyone was discussing alternate ideas to sandy hook those people were shouted down and belittled because of the children and the parents and the grief and the humanity.
But now the benjamins are coming out 100 million dollars to get the ball rolling, and of course it cant be the surviving children or the parents doing this because you all would look, well...
anyway I just want to say those poor people, if I had been through this or my children I should be deserving of whatever is awarded to me.

The bottom line is that this school [color=gold]FAILED TO PROVIDE A SAFE ENVIRONMENT for their students. Schools who have no COUNTER-PLAN for such scenarios, are doing our children a SIGNIFICANT DISSERVICE and should therefore be held FULLY ACCOUNTABLE.

Get armed guards and armed staff with proper training, and schools wont have to worry about lawsuits. The schools are [color=gold]OBLIGATED to ensure a SAFE environment for children, and this school FAILED in doing so, and therefore DESERVES to be on the receiving end of lawsuits by parents.

If schools wish to refuse to implement counter-measures to these situations, then they are responsible fully for these occurrences. [color=limegreen]All of our POLITICIAN'S children have SAFE schools with armed guards in them, so why cant OUR CHILDREN have security??

There is [color=gold]NO SANE PARENT in the country who wouldnt GLADLY pay more in taxes to ensure their children's schools are safe by way of hiring armed guards or staff and paying for their training. So there is absolutely NO monetary excuse whatsoever for the lack of armed guards/staff in our children's schools. So the only question now is,WHAT THE HELL is stopping the ONLY quick and effective solution???

Maybe law-suits are what it will take to [color=gold]INFLUENCE schools to start offering our children REAL SECURITY now if we have enough parents moving forward with lawsuits. Money talks, and sadly this may be the only way to get schools to protect our children.

If this lawyer wins he needs to file a class action against the fed for "duck and cover."

"What do you mean cowering in the closet isnt a plan?"

It's a smart move. Instead of getting nothing, they'll get a nice settlement to make the story go away. No chance of it going to court.

reply to post by oper8zhin

What would you have them do to "make a safe environment? Many of these schools today are one step shy of correctional facility with the coils of wire on the fence tops, buzzing kids in and out with full metal scans and searches. It's already destroyed the sense of security the kids have every right to enjoy at that age. Short of turning the schools into Military bases...what more CAN be done??

The private schools are NO comparison with politicians and it's very simple thinking to put the two together. The Son or Daughter of John Q citizen may not have Iranian or Russian Special Forces coming to kidnap them to use as leverage in geopolitical games. The schools our leaders have their kids at HAD BETTER have armed guards at Secret Service levels of training. Their mere presence puts every OTHER child in those schools at direct risk, every single day, without that level of security. I'd say being the child of very powerful parents is a very double edged sword.


Now in these cases, you don't even have a criminal or a psycho to deal with. You have an unguided missile on a terminal mission that it was never intended to survive. These people accept, obvious by the outcome, that they ARE NOT SURVIVING what they are about to do. So....An armed guard does...what? The Bad guy knows where HE is while the guard has NO clue who the bad guy is...and you can be certain the FIRST shot will be to kill that guard.

After all...these killers have come to murder Children. The most absolute evil act a human being can do in our society. Killing a guard first is nothing and no obstacle at all compared to what they came to do. The defense isn't more walls, more fences and more openly armed security patrols down the Hallways of our schools. LET THE TEACHERS CARRY LEGALLY PERMITTED WEAPONS. Just let nature take it's course......and the bad guy can't possibly know which teacher is or isn't carrying. It's a guessing game....and one that can't be won.

Bad guys may not go expecting to survive it...but they DO want to accomplish whatever sick goals they have before that. If they have a 50/50 chance of any teacher they encounter being the one that kills them where they stand? ....It MIGHT have them choosing something else...like the mall in Utah. A state where teachers CAN carry weapons..and how many school shooters roll the dice in Utah? Anyone?

(Better a mall than a school..... deterrence is about causing the predator to MOVE ON to something where our children are not the concentrated targets, right?

Wow.

I try to look at things pretty black and white, so for the sake of my opinion let's leave out all the details on what coulda woulda shoulda been there and who is at fault for it not.

100Mil? I believe the entire school, children teachers and parents should be receiving some counseling and financial assistance. I believe families of the deceased should receive more. I believe, however, that 100Mil would more than cover that for MANY families, but one single family? That is absolutely insane. Unless the intention is to use it to better the school security system or to share it with other families I absolutely cannot wrap my head around that kind of number.