Mr. Kelty successfully defended the Decatur (Illinois) School Board against a highly publicized Federal Lawsuit brought by Jesse Jackson and the Rainbow Coalition. This case was a national sensation and was featured in newspapers nationwide and the USA Today. The case was also featured on CNN, major network news programs and even on Good Morning America.

Illinois students' expulsions upheld Jackson promises further protests in wake of ruling

Reprinted from USA Today - January 12, 2000

CHICAGO -- Rejecting arguments of unfairness and racism, a federal judge ruled Tuesday that the Decatur, Ill., School Board had the right to expel six black high school students for brawling at a football game.

The ruling was a defeat for Jesse Jackson, who drew national attention to the case in November when he was arrested in Decatur during a protest of the expulsions.

Jackson also used the spotlight to denounce the proliferation of "zero tolerance" policies used by school boards nationwide to reassure communities that schools are safe from guns, drugs and violence.

Although lawyers for the students said the teens were being singled out because of their race, District Judge Michael McCuskey said the Decatur School Board acted entirely appropriately in disciplining the boys for the fight Sept. 17.

"This court firmly believes that the citizens and students of Decatur should be able to go to a high school football game without worrying about a violent confrontation erupting in the stands," McCuskey said.

Jackson called the ruling a "disgrace."

"This is a case of great significance, not only politically and socially, but legally as well," Jackson said in Chicago. "School boards are seeking to criminalize (students) instead of educating them."

Jackson said his Rainbow/PUSH Coalition would appeal the ruling. He also said he would hold rallies later this month in Decatur, a city of 83,000 about 150 miles southwest of Chicago. "It's going to take a combination of litigation, demonstration and mass education to bring about change," he said.

Decatur school officials applauded the ruling.

But Superintendent Kenneth Arndt said the last thing the district needed after its four-month ordeal was more rallies led by Jackson. "Our community is still in turmoil," he said.

McCuskey's ruling, issued from his court in Urbana, Ill., via the Internet, stated that the fight stemmed from a confrontation Sept. 3 between members of two rival gangs, the Vice Lords and the Gangster Disciples, that took place away from school. Two weeks later, at a football game between Eisenhower and MacArthur high schools, seven students and one former Decatur student attacked a single student sitting in the bleachers.

The melee -- the last 16 seconds of which were videotaped by a parent -- all but emptied the stands of bystanders who feared for their safety. Seven students and one adult suffered minor injuries.

The board expelled six of the students for two years; the seventh withdrew rather than face expulsion.

After Jackson and Gov. George Ryan intervened, the board agreed to reduce the expulsion to one academic year and let them enroll in alternative education programs.

In refusing to overturn the action, McCuskey said the board did not act illegally, nor did it violate the students' constitutional rights. He also found that the students' race was never a subject of discussion by the board.

He said the federal courts traditionally have been reluctant to interfere with local school districts.

Quoting the Supreme Court, McCuskey said, "It is not the role of the federal courts to set aside the decisions of school administrators which the court may view as lacking a basis in wisdom or compassion."

He was unmoved by statistics presented by the lawyers stating that 82% of the students expelled from Decatur schools the past three years are African-American, even though African-Americans make up just 48% of the student body.

Nor was he impressed by the offering of statistics from other school districts in the USA that echo those figures.

"This court notes that the statistics produced during trial could lead a reasonable person to speculate that the (Decatur) School Board's expulsion was based upon the race of the students," McCuskey said. "However, this court cannot make its decision solely upon statistical speculation."