A few students at my daughters high school were pulled aside and given some type of lie detector tests, they were questioned about selling e-cigs or drugs, is this legal? This happened yesterday...in wisconsin
Who conducted the lie detector "tests?" Was it a law enforcement officer? Or a school administrator? Were the "tests" mandatory? What would have happened to the students if they refused? Were the lie detector "tests" audio and/or video recorded? Were their parents notified?
The tests were some type of voice stress thing...the cops did the test at the school, one kid was told that they "knew something" and was basically intimidated into taking it...I am not clear on whether or not the parents were notified...the chief of police now has an office at the school (this is in a very small town of less than 3500) this is not an inner city school. If the kids have 5 tardies in one school year, they have to meet with the chief of police...this seems so Gestapo ish to me
QuoteIf the kids have 5 tardies in one school year, they have to meet with the chief of police...this seems so Gestapo ish to me
I think this is a good idea. Perhaps you should see his actions as caring about the kids growing up with a sense of responsibility--teach them early and it may reduce the chances of him having to throw them in jail years later. I don't know enough about the alleged voice stress analyses situation to make a call on that.
worriedparent,
I'm not certain, but I suspect the voice stress "tests" were not illegal (though they should be, as they're a fraud).
I found a question and reply on the legal advice website avvo.com about police questioning of minors without parental consent that may relevant:
http://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/is-it-legal-in-wisconsin-for-a-police-officer-to-q-412428.html
It also seems that there is rule in Wisconsin that custodial interrogations of minors must be recorded. If the students in question at your child's school reasonably didn't feel free to go, then the interrogations were custodial and should have been recorded:
http://wislawjournal.com/2005/07/13/juvenile-interrogations-must-be-recorded/
In any event, I think that bringing lie detectors into schools and coercing children into submitting to these bogus "tests" is a very bad policy.