District Must Rescind Laguna Teen's Suspension In Racist Incident

LAGUNA BEACH, CA — The Laguna Beach Unified School District must remove a suspension from the record of a student punished for their role in the racist vandalism of a black classmate's home, a judge ordered this week.

The case revolves around the school district's discipline of five teens who allegedly shouted a racial epithet while throwing a watermelon at a black student's home. The parents of a teen facing a three-day suspension is contesting the district's decision and sued to have the record expunged in the meantime contending the mark on their record will hurt college prospects, Los Angeles Times reported.

The judge had ordered the suspension to be removed from the 18-year-old student's record in October. The school district, planning to appeal, never removed the suspension from the teen's record. The school district filed a notice of appeal Monday, but Judge Ronald Bauer told the district during a hearing Thursday to immediately remove the suspension, regardless of the status of its appeal, Mark Rosen, an attorney representing the student's family, told Los Angeles Times.

Although an appeal typically keeps a judge's decision from taking effect, if the delay causes harm, the court can allow the judgement to be imposed. Rosen argued that the suspension on the student's record could lessen the student'st chances of being accepted to college while the appeal is pending.

Read more about the case at Los Angeles Times

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