CONTACT: Micah McCoy, (505) 266-5915 EXT. 1003 or mmccoy@aclu-nm.org
ALBUQUERQUE, NM – Yesterday, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico (ACLU-NM) filed suit against Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) for suspending African-American brothers Dana and Donovan Delouth under false allegations that the brothers engaged in “gang related activity” when they flashed a “peace” sign and a “hook-em-horns” sign to their friends. The suit demands immediate reinstatement of the brothers to their studies and charges APS with violations of free speech and the due process right to public education. Neither brother has ever been a member of a gang.
"If APS can suspend students for doing something as universally-accepted as showing a peace sign, then it can get rid of students at will, with no real evidence that the students represent a threat, " said ACLU-NM Executive Director Peter Simonson. “Anti-gang policies might be good for school security, but not when they are enforced so arbitrarily that they deny innocent kids their right to education.”
On the evening of Friday, August 28, an APS police officer and a Campus Service Aide witnessed the Delouth brothers making the signs in question at a high school football game at Milne Stadium. The following Monday, the brothers were called into the security office of Valley High School and accused of “throwing” gang signs. The brothers tried to explain that their hand signs were innocent greetings, but an assistant principal at Valley High School immediately suspended both and is proposing additional long-term suspension. Although the Delouth brothers were not the only students who showed the hand signs, they—the sole African-Americans—were the only students disciplined. Two days later, after the brothers spoke about their suspension to the press, APS brought additional disciplinary charges against Dana. The brothers deny all of the charges, and nothing of the circumstances meet APS’s definitions for those charges.
“APS isn’t making the schools any safer by suspending Dana and Donovan,” said ACLU-NM Co-Legal Director Jane Gagne. “All they are accomplishing is causing two students to be stigmatized by false allegations of gang activity, loss of valuable educational opportunities, and suppression of fundamental constitutional rights. We need to get these kids back to school as soon as possible.”
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