Schools
Arrest Warrant For Rockland Rabbi In Contempt Of Court
The trial pitting the East Ramapo school district against the NAACP over voting rights is missing a witness and the judge isn't pleased.
WHITE PLAINS, NY — East Ramapo's voting rights case took on added issues of judicial powers as the federal judge issued an arrest warrant for an ultra Orthodox rabbi who has refused to testify. U.S. District Court Judge Cathy Seibel held Rabbi Yehuda Oshry in contempt of court on Monday and issued the arrest warrant Tuesday, The Journal News reported.
Oshry has been named one of the behind-the-scenes organizers of the bloc vote that keeps East Ramapo's Board of Education filled with Orthodox Jewish men who siphon district money to the many yeshivas in the community. There are about 11,000 students in the public schools and about 25,000 yeshiva students whose transportation, books, computers, and special-education needs are covered by the district budget. The NAACP, which brought the lawsuit, argues that at-large voting disenfranchises black and Latino residents, whose children make up the bulk of the school district. They want a ward system.
The school trustees have spent about $1 million to defend against the NAACP's lawsuit. The plaintiffs say voters in the Orthodox community were at one point told to stay home to bolster the school board's case that there wasn't a disparity.
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In addition to being compelled to appear, Oshry could be held in custody and have to pay the fines and costs necessary to get him there, the newspaper said. He has until Thursday morning.
Read the entire article on lohud.com.
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It's not the first time the district has been sued on behalf of its students. SEE: East Ramapo Parents Sue to Compel State to Act. The district includes parts of the communities of New City, Pearl River, Nanuet, Spring Valley, Suffern, New Hempstead, Chestnut Ridge, Monsey and Wesley Hills. There have been numerous state and federal investigations and reports documenting a continuing pattern of fiscal mismanagement and neglect by the East Ramapo Board of Education over the last 15 years.
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