On The Front Lines
Rutherford Institute Attorneys Ask District Court to Rule in Favor of 12-Year-Old Girl Arrested for Eating French Fries in Metro Station
Rutherford Institute Attorneys File Motions for Summary Judgment in U.S. District CourtWashington, D.C.-- Attorneys for The Rutherford Institute have filed motions for summary judgment in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) and the Washington, D.C. chief of police. The motions were filed on behalf of a 12-year-old girl who was arrested for violating a zero tolerance policy implemented by the chief of police toward petty metro offenses including eating, drinking and smoking. The girl's offense, according to metro officials, was eating a French fry while in the metro station.
On Oct. 23, 2000, Ansche Hedgepeth purchased some French fries on her way to a Washington, D.C. metro station to catch the train home from school. After proceeding to the lower level of the station, Ansche placed one of the fries in her mouth. Immediately, a police officer demanded that she put down her fries and remove her backpack. Although Ansche never resisted or failed to cooperate with the officer, she was handcuffed and informed that it was against the law to eat in a subway station. After removing her shoestrings and searching her jacket and backpack, the officer asked a female officer to frisk Ansche. Ansche was then led to a police car and taken to the police station where she was interrogated, booked, fingerprinted and finally, after being detained for over two hours, was released into her mother's custody. In implementing the District of Columbia's statute, which makes it unlawful to eat, drink or smoke within the confines of a metro station, the Metro Transit Police Department had issued its own guidelines stating that adults found in violation of the statute may be issued a citation in lieu of arrest. However, Ansche's mother was informed that juveniles in Washington, D.C., must be taken into custody and cannot be given a citation. Institute attorneys have charged the WMATA and the D.C. police with constitutional violations including illegal search and seizure and having a discriminatory policy that allows different treatment for minors and juveniles. Although WMATA claims to have revised their policy so that permit letters would be sent to a juvenile offender's parents and/or school in lieu of arrest, the original procedure mandating arrest remains on the books. Concerned that the zero tolerance crackdowns could be revived at any time, Institute attorneys are asking the court to declare the policy unconstitutional and order the district to refrain from imposing it.
"Surely we all know the police force in our nation's capital has much larger issues to confront than children eating French fries on the subway," stated John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. "This is another case of zero tolerance run amok--policies that clearly violate constitutional rights of young people such as Ansche Hedgepeth."
The Rutherford Institute is an international, nonprofit civil liberties organization committed to defending constitutional and human rights.
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