SAN FRANCISCO — Today, the California affiliates of the American Civil Liberties Union partnered with Wendy Walsh, mother of 13 year-old Seth Walsh who recently took his own life after enduring years of anti-gay harassment at school, to send an important message to schools about anti-gay bullying. California law, in particular, requires schools to take specific steps to protect students from harassment based on sexual orientation.

"Seth told me he was gay when he was in the sixth grade. He was a wonderful, loving child, and I loved him for who he was. I can't bring my son back. But schools can make a difference today to keep this from happening to any more young people," said Wendy Walsh. "Schools need to take harassment and bullying seriously when parents or students tell them about it, and when they see it in the halls." Wendy also recorded an online video message, the first time she has spoken publicly since her son's death, which was released today.

An ACLU investigation found that officials in the Tehachapi Unified School District knew about and largely ignored the harassment Seth faced. Even after Seth's death, the district has not taken adequate steps to remedy the hostile environment for students who are or are perceived to be lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT). The U.S. Department of Education has also launched an investigation of the school district. In a letter sent today, the ACLU outlines several immediate steps the district should take to create a safe environment for LGBT students. These steps are a template for schools to ensure that they are protecting all vulnerable students.

"Students have the right to be safe and supported at school for being exactly who they are," said Elizabeth Gill, staff attorney for the ACLU's LGBT Project and the ACLU of Northern California. "And parents deserve to know that their kids are going to school in a respectful environment where they are nurtured to reach their full potential. Public schools have a duty protect to protect students from harassment based on sexual orientation."

Seth's Story

On Sept. 19 Seth hanged himself from a tree in the family's backyard after facing years of relentless harassment that school officials effectively ignored. Seth was on life support for nine days before he died on Sept. 28. Seth is one of at least 11 LGBT young people who have taken their own lives in the past three months following severe harassment.

Seth was bullied based on perceived sexual orientation since the fifth grade, when students started calling him "gay." As he got older, the harassment became more frequent and severe. By seventh grade, taunts and verbal abuse were a constant occurrence. Students regularly called him "fag" and "queer." He was afraid to use the restroom or be in the boy's locker room before gym class. Seth's mother and close friends report that teachers and school administrators were aware that Seth was being harassed and, in some instances, participated in the harassment. Another student reported that one teacher called Seth "fruity" in front of an entire class. His mother's pleas to the school for help were often brushed aside. Seth had always been a good student, receiving A's and B's, but his grades quickly dropped to failing as the harassment continued. Friends reported that he became depressed and withdrawn. A note Seth left upon his death expresses love for his family and close friends, and anger at the school "for bringing you this sorrow."

Schools Can Make a Difference

"We can all agree that anti-LGBT harassment is a problem, but the unfortunate reality is that schools don't always have the tools or knowledge to adequately protect LGBT students," said James Gilliam, deputy executive director at the ACLU of Southern California. "Better harassment policies save lives and make a safer environment for all students."

In a recent national survey, nine out of 10 LGBT students reported being harassed at school. More than half of the LGBT students who are harassed at school because of their sexual orientation feel unsafe at school. A study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health in early 2010 presents solid data showing that LGBT youth experience significantly more bullying than heterosexual youth. A result of these factors is that LGBT youth are three times as likely to commit suicide as heterosexual youth.

The ACLU's recommended steps for schools to protect LGBT students include the following:

Five Steps for Safer Schools:

1. Create strong and clear anti-harassment policies and programs. 
2. Take all complaints of harassment seriously. 
3. Provide ongoing professional development for teachers, school counselors and administrators about identifying and stopping anti-LGBT harassment.
4. Explain the harmful impact of harassment to students and staff
5. Support Gay-Straight Alliances on campus

The ACLU's recommendations specify that anti-harassment and anti-discrimination policies should include actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity, as well as race, national origin, ethnicity, gender, and religion.

Sometimes, the wrong thing is going on in broad daylight, but you don't notice it, really, because that's just the way things have always been.
A message left from a parent on our legal intake line expressing concern about the costs of attending public school got us curious. We took a cursory glance at school websites throughout the state, and found a stunning laundry list of fees levied at public schools for everything from textbooks to lab supplies, even though the California Supreme Court made clear more than 20 years ago that such fees violated the state constitution.
Digging deeper, we heard heartbreaking tales from parents and students of humiliating public shaming by school administrators and teachers trying to force payment.
That's not only illegal; it's also just plain wrong.  So, we got to work.
We filed our statewide class-action lawsuit challenging school fees in September, and reached a settlement yesterday. In lawsuit time, that's warp speed.
Our nation's public schools represent the highest and most revolutionary ideal of American democracy – that through education open on an equal basis to all, regardless of class and social status, every child can achieve his or her full potential as consequence of merit and hard work.
Free public schools are the machinery by which the American dream is made accessible to all. More to the point, in California it's a constitutionally-ordained machinery, and has been since 1879. The state supreme court confirmed this in 1984.
Yet public schools continued charging students for basic, mandated necessities -- a practice so ubiquitous most never thought to question a demand for $2 to use a protractor here or a fee to take a test there. Download a pdf of our Pay To Learn report for a look at how just how widespread this is. Then  watch "Jason Roe" and his mother discuss their struggles trying to keep up with the ballooning costs of what is supposed to be a free education.
These illegal school fees discriminate against lower-income families, who should not have their children penalized and denied access to classes and school programs just because they're not wealthy.
Yesterday's settlement will stop that. Under the settlement, the State will seek legislation clarifying that all school fees charged to families, be they for mandated academic course materials or equipment and uniforms required for extracurricular activities such as sports or bands. The settlement also provides an annual audit and enforcement process, with meaningful accountability systems including financial penalties for school districts that persist in charging students illegal fees.  Parents also will be able to file complaints to challenge the imposition of fees as they arise.
We will ask the Court to give preliminary approval for the settlement to go forward, and then we will get to work seeking passage of the legislation.
Although this settlement will ensure school districts do not charge fees in the future, it is important to keep in mind the context in which public schools are operating today.  The fact that public schools felt free to pursue this plainly illegal funding speaks to the broad dysfunction that is California's system of financing public schools. Instead of ensuring that schools are provided the resources necessary for a free and equal education, our state has repeatedly slashed public school funding, leaving educators to scramble desperately for funding sources - any funding sources - even if that source involves shaming a child in front of her classmates.
California used to be the crown jewel of the nation's public education system. Now we're at the bottom of the barrel. That's why it's critical to advocate to ensure our public schools receive from the State the resources necessary to provide every student an opportunity to succeed, regardless of their socioeconomic status.
The price of democracy is eternal vigilance, not whatever textbooks are retailing for on Amazon.
This suit settled so fast because everyone involved in this effort realized fixing this problem was the right thing to do. This swift resolution is a tribute to Gov. Schwarzenegger, Education Secretary Bonnie Reiss and State Board of Education President Ted Mitchell.
We are also grateful to our partners in this effort - the ACLU of Northern California, the ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties, and the law firm of Morrison & Foerster, LLP.
"The boisterous sea of liberty is never without a wave." -- Thomas Jefferson.

In the latest episode in one of the more bizarre story arcs of America’s death penalty, on Monday the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation revealed (under court order) that the source of their mysterious supply of lethal injection drugs was Archimedes Pharma, the same British firm that supplied the drugs Arizona used to execute Jeffrey Landrigan.

They also revealed that they paid over $36,000 to a wholesaler for a massive stockpile of the drug.

But let’s back up – like any good drama, you can’t jump in mid-season. So here’s the recap: Every death penalty state in the U.S. uses sodium thiopental to kill people and only one company in the U.S. actually makes it, Illinois-based Hospira, Inc. Earlier this year, supply problems led to a shortage, with Hospira saying they were out until early 2011 and states’ stockpiles nearing expiration. The machinery of death almost ground to a halt, with some states putting executions on hold, but others tried to change the law to allow other sorts of lethal injection drugs, or to enable them to get the drugs from other states and even foreign suppliers not approved by the FDA.

Naturally, importing lethal poison for the purpose of capital punishment could raise some eyebrows, so it’s not too surprising that states did everything they could to keep it from the public. Oversight from the people can be problematic, after all. Corrections officials in Texas tried (unsuccessfully) to have the information deemed a state secret, and today remain in violation of an order from the state Attorney General by refusing to disclose their supplier. In a glaring example of big government judicial activism, Arizona actually got the Supreme Court to essentially sign off on its program of secrecy, paving the way for the state to kill Jeffrey Landrigan using drugs from an undisclosed source.

When California got ahold of some of this mystery supply, they weren’t as lucky as Arizona was on the judicial front. Corrections officials admitted that at least some of the information should be made public, but simply ignored their legal responsibility to disclose it in the face of a Public Records Act request.

It took a lawsuit from the ACLU before they would finally disclose, and even then they waited until they were good and ready. Now we know why. California officials finally revealed that their first batch of poison was supplied by its good neighbors in Arizona, and that they also put in one last order -- for half a kilo -- to the U.K. firm that had supplied Arizona with its doses of killer drugs.

While California was trying to grease the wheels of the death penalty, grassroots activists all over the world – including Change.org members – were joining the British human rights agency Reprieve in calling on the U.K. government to uphold its anti-death penalty stance by stopping the export of sodium thiopental. Corrections officials were trying to beat the clock by getting as much of the drug as they possibly could before the ban, and obviously couldn’t be fettered by anything as trivial as transparency.

But according to Reprieve, there’s even more to this soap opera. It turns out the $36 grand California paid for the drug was a smidge above market value – a 3,500 perccent markup, to be exact. Market value for their half kilo should have been about a thousand dollars. Reprieve calls the mark up “blood money” and suggests that California is poised to distribute their stockpile to other states around the country. It certainly seems like a wise investment for cash-strapped California.

We can’t feed the people of this state, but by gum we can kill them. Reprieve is calling on Business Secretary Vince Cable to intervene. After only recently imposing a ban on the export of lethal injection drugs (just after California placed its order), he can contact U.S. officials and request that the shipment not be allowed to reach its destination. Activists here, meanwhile, need to keep the pressure on Hospira, as the U.S. manufacturer has indicated that its supplies will be back on track early next year. Send them a message urging them to refuse to help states put people to death.