PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF SCHOOL LAW

Presentation # 21:Identify and apply reporting procedures of the Florida

of Law Enforcement’s missing children program and the Children’s Internet Protection Act.

By: Jean A. Daceus

SCENARIO

The parents of Lisa Sotomayor came to the school at 5:30 P.M. looking for their daughter who has not reached home yet. She usually gets home by 3:15 or calls home if there is any delay or afterschool activity. She is very responsible and open with her parents. The parents have already called all nearby relatives to see if she was not intended to visit unexpectedly. They came to the school as their last option.

Question:As future administrators, if you were there when this situation

arose, how would you deal with it?

FLORIDA - MEPIC

In response to the concern for missing children in Florida, the 1982 Florida Legislature appropriated funds to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for the establishment of the first state Missing Endangered Persons Information Clearinghouse (MEPIC) in the nation. MEPIC was officially established in 1983, and since then has served as a liaison between citizens, private organizations and law enforcement officials regarding missing endangered persons information.

The Missing Endangered Persons Information Clearinghouse (MEPIC) is the central repository of information regarding missing endangered persons in Florida. MEPIC assists law enforcement agencies and Florida's citizens in finding missing persons by providing analytical services and engaging the public in the search.

THE 2013 FLORIDA STATUTESCHAPTER 937

MISSING CHILD/PERSON INVESTIGATIONS

937.021Missing child and missing adult reports.

937.022Missing Endangered Persons Information Clearinghouse.

937.023Department of Education to compile list of missing Florida school children; forms; notification.

937.024Birth records of missing children; registrars’ duties.

937.025Missing children; student records; reporting requirements; penalties.

937.028Fingerprints; missing persons.

937.031Dental records of missing persons; access and use.

REPORTING PROCEDURES

1) Conduct a preliminary search for your child.

2) Contact law enforcement to report your child missing.

3) Contact the Missing Endangered Persons Information Clearinghouse.

4) Call your child’s friends, school, relatives or anyone else who may

have information regarding his/her whereabouts.

5) Check places your child likes to spend time, including shopping

centers, parks, athletic facilities, clubs and neighborhoods.

6) Pass out flyers with your child’s picture, and ask local stores,

hospitals, shopping malls and truck stops to place the flyer in their

window.

The Famous Casey Anthony’s Case(August 9, 2005 – 2008)

Caylee Anthony was a two-year-old American girl who lived in Orlando, Florida, with her mother, Casey Marie Anthony, and her maternal grandparents, George and Cindy Anthony. On July 15, 2008, she was reported missing to9-1-1 by Cindy, who said she had not seen Caylee for 31 days and that Casey's car smelled like a dead body had been inside it. Cindy said Casey had given varied explanations as to Caylee's whereabouts before finally telling her that she had not seen Caylee for weeks. Casey told detectives several falsehoods, including that the child had been kidnapped by a nanny on June 9, and that she had been trying to find her, too frightened to alert the authorities. She was charged with first-degree murder in October 2008 and pleaded not guilty.

LANDMARK CASE

CHILDREN’S INTERNET PROTECTION ACT(CIPA)

The Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) requires that K-12 schools and libraries in the United States use Internet filters and implement other measures to protect children from harmful online content as a condition for federal funding. It was signed into law on December 21, 2000, and was found to be constitutional by the United States Supreme Court on June 23, 2003.

STIPULATIONS

CIPA requires K-12 schools and libraries using E-Rate discounts to operate "a technology protection measure with respect to any of its computers with Internet access that protects against access through such computers to visual depictions that are obscene, child pornography, or harmful to minors". Such a technology protection measure must be employed "during any use of such computers by minors“.

LANDMARK CASE

United States v. American Library Association (2003)

A decision in which the United States Supreme Court ruled that the United States Congress has the authority to require public schools and libraries receiving E-Rate discounts to install web filtering software as a condition of receiving federal funding. In a 6-3 ruling the Supreme Court ruled that:

1.) public libraries' use of Internet filtering software does not violate their patrons' First Amendment rights;

2.) The Children's Internet Protection Act is not unconstitutional.

LANDMARK CASE

The King’s English v. Shurtleff (2005)

A U.S. federal lawsuit filed on June 9, 2005, by a group of Utah bookstores, websites, Internet service providers and national trade associations challenging the constitutionality of a Utah law meant to restrict children’s access to material on the Internet.

LANDMARK CASE

State of Connecticut v. Julie Amero (2007)On October 19, 2004, Julie Amero was substituting for a seventh-grade language class at Kelly Middle School in Norwich, Connecticut. The teacher's computer was accessed by pupils while the regular teacher, Matthew Napp, was out of the room. When Julie took charge, the computer started showing pornographic images.On January 5, 2007, Amero was convicted in Norwich Superior Court on four counts of risk of injury to a minor, or impairing the morals of a child. Her sentencing was delayed four times after her conviction, with both the prosecution and judge not satisfied that all aspects of the case had been assessed. The felony charges for which she was originally convicted carry a maximum prison sentence of 40 years.On June 6, 2007, a New London superior court judge threw out the conviction of Amero, she was granted a new trial and entered a plea of not guilty.

GROUP QUESTIONS

As a group, read, discuss, and answer each question

Question 1

What are the responsibilities of school leaders in the search of missing children in your jurisdictions?

Question 2

How can we as schools leaders really protect our students from the danger of the World Wide Web?

REFERENCES

 McClure, Charles R.; Paul T. Jaeger (2009). Public Libraries and Internet Service Roles:

Measuring and Maximizing Internet Services. ALA Editions. ISBN 0-8389-3576-1.

Jump up FCC guide: Children's Internet Protection Act". Federal Communications Commission.

Retrieved 2011-08-17.

Jump up : United States v. American Library Association, 539 U.S. 194(2003).

Jump up "FCC Order 03-188". 2003-07-23. Retrieved 2008-01-31.

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=539&invol=194

http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/02-361.ZS.html "An update to the Children's Internet

Protection Act“.