MANCHESTER — An attorney representing a Manchester High School Central senior has sent a letter to At Large school board member Rich Girard, requesting he stop discussing her publicly or during meetings or face legal action, after he contacted her through a district-operated student email account regarding an opinion piece she authored in a student newspaper. The student, Rachel Phelan, 18, wrote an editorial in the Sept. 28 edition of “The Little Green,” Central’s student newspaper, urging support for city teachers currently working without a contract.
And said attorney is identified later on in the article as Karen Hewes of EdLaw New England in Bedford. Who accuses Girard of violating FERPA, the Federal law that protect students’ Personal Indentifiable Information (“PII”) as Grokster Ann Marie talked about here. Yet, I dryly note that her letter to Girard to stop talking about Rachel Phelan was leaked to the UL (do ya really think it was Rich that would have done that?). Naw, this boob of an attorney
Sidenote: Wanna make a bet I’ll hear about that as either being sexual harrassment or politically incorrectly for simply using a common American English slang phrase? First Amendment, baby – just like Rachel Phelan “outed” herself as an adult, so has this nitwit.
not is just trying to threaten Rick Girard – she also outed her client to everyone in NH. Great job, just a great job. Which brings up the case – for fee or pro bono? Truth or self-aggrandizment? Or just being self-unaware of invoking the Streisand Effect? OK, to recap (thank you, Steve):
- The “student” is not a minor. They are voting constituent.
- This voter expressed a political opinion in a public space.
- The opinion was directed at the activities of the subcommittee which Mr. Girard leads.
- That everyone on the Manchester School District Staff and Students SAU37 Mail system can find and email anyone else by typing their name in the search bar.
- That there are no prohibitions, legal or otherwise, against using email in this manner.
- The communication was specific to the issue raised by the voter.
Not a minor. An actual voter. Engaged in Free Speech. To which Rich Girard (a public official leading the negotiations at issue) provided missing details related to the topic.
So here’s (in part?) the letter that Hewes sent (yup, privacy is UPPERMOST in this attorney’s mind – OUTSTANDING!) (reformatted, emphasis mine):
In a letter dated Monday and sent to Girard by attorney Karen Hewes of EdLaw New England in Bedford, Hewes said while school districts can release student directory information, they are not permitted to release information like Phelan’s student identification number without “adequate notice to parents or adult students.” Hewes writes that she believes doing so violates the federal Family Education Rights Privacy Act (FERPA) which makes student educational records and personally-identifiable information confidential.
“No notice was ever provided to Ms. Phelan or her parents that directory information would be accessible to BOSC members,” writes Hewes. “Moreover, the right to release directory information is not extended to BOSC members. While the Manchester School District violated FERPA by allowing you and other BOSC members to have access to student information, this does not give you permission to publish Ms. Phelan’s confidential information. Nor does it give you the right to attempt to publicly embarrass her, intimidate her, chill her speech, disparage her or, as you describe, to make her feel ‘uncomfortable.’”
Hewes asks Girard to stop the Nov. 15 video from further airing on Manchester Public TV and remove all postings on his website and social media accounts where he discussed Phelan and her article “and/or where you have released her confidential information in violation of FERPA.”
“Finally, I am requesting that you immediately stop discussing Ms. Phelan publicly and at any BOSC meetings. Failure to comply with these requests will result in a request for injunctive relief.”
And in doing so, she let the cat out of the bag, opened Pandora’s box, and unzipped her lips. Ms. Hewes, for everything you’re doing against Rich Girard, you’ve just done FAR worse to spread this than he has. Lucky you. And I’ll be spreading this around to our other friends in the Blogosphere. Perhaps, if you’re lucky, you’ll be turned into a verb like Robert Fisk or Barbara Streisand have done – and did it to themselves?
So, what is your take on the First Amendment? ARE you going to be suing the UL for continuing to put your client, Rachel Phelan, further into the spotlight? I am also very interested in the answer to this question: if you do so, how will you be suing yourself as a co-conspirator in the UL’s actions if indeed it was you who leaded your Letter to Rich Girard to Paul Feely of the UL?
My take on this whole stupid, blown out of proportion, and “let’s chuck a political spear at Girard” stunt?
Pretty much this – you DON’T attack children in the political arena. Leave the kids of political parents out of the spotlight even if they are dragged around from one political event to photo op or speech. BUT, if they decide to step into the limelight on their own, and start doing their own politics (like the Parkland kiddies), they have voluntarily stepped into the political realm themselves and of their own free will, all bets are off. Like David Hogg and company have done in the Second Amendment area and Rachel Phelan has done in the political contract negotiations one. She did, and I’m betting that any court is going to see it that was as Free Speech, pro and con, undergoes strict analysis given that it seems Hewes is threatening such. THAT would a rather interesting case to watch and it remains to be seen if Hewes is ready for discovery towards her client.
Once done, EVERYONE, even elected officials, now has been given a free light to criticize, for that’s what happens in the political ring – the free flow of ideas and speech in attacking and defending one’s own viewpoint against another. Phelan may not have expected what the ramifications were going to be, but she’s now learning that decisions have consequences and is now being fully joined for her exercise of Free Speech. Who knows – if FERPA is squelching Free Speech, perhaps this might be a precedent setting case?
I do wonder about Hewe’s bit about “Phelan’s student identification number” (above) – was that actually released or is that a Hewes red herring?
Oh, and this bit:
“I don’t think it’s appropriate for this board to be contacting students like you did,” Mayor Joyce Craig said at the Nov. 13 meeting. “She is 18. She is a student at Central High School. She may not feel comfortable with you contacting her.”
Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig seems to be rather self-unaware of her own words and how Free Speech works as well. She herself proclaims Phelan to be a legal adult and substantiates that claim of such by repeating Phelan’s age. An adult student who put herself into the political arena. And of course, Phelan may not feel comfortable by Rich Girard contacting her via email – I’m betting she never thought that she’d get pushback.
Oh, will Karen Hewes also be threatening to sue the Manchester Ink Link, as Phelan decided to publish her Op-Ed there as well (which had Phelan’s picture on it? I have saved the page off for safekeeping)?
(H/T: Union Leader)
