Mississippi School Handcuff Use Now Banned

The Mississippi Capital City Alternative School in Jackson has been ordered to stop chaining and handcuffing students after the school was sued by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Judge Tom Lee approved a legal settlement, which guarantees the cease of further detainment using handcuffs or shackles.

"This handcuffing policy demonstrated a punitive school culture and a broken model of school discipline that focused on criminalizing students at the expense of educating them," Jody Owens of the Southern Poverty Law Center said in a statement.

The suit, filed last year, brought awareness to the fact that the school used handcuffs and shackles to detain students, sometimes for hours, throughout the day. Even the attorneys for the school district stated: "employees passing by or through the … area can hear children calling out and asking for the handcuffs to be loosened."

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Principal Marie Harris admitted to using handcuffs to secure a student to railing in 2006. Unfortunately her supervisor did not know handcuffs were being used, and the problem grew, as teachers would often use the handcuffs without Harris' approval.

Jeanette Murray filed the suit on behalf of her 16-year-old son, who suffers from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The Southern Poverty Law Center joined the suit, pointing out that students would be handcuffed for minor infractions such as not wearing a belt, talking too loudly, or wearing the wrong shoes to school.

As part of the settlement reached on Friday, the school has agreed to stop using handcuffs on any student under the age of 13. Handcuffs are not to be used as punishment or for non-criminal conduct. According to the U.S. Department of Education, Mississippi is one of several states without any regulations addressing the use of restraints on students.

Jayne Sargent, interim superintendent of the school district, has said that she is "delighted" a settlement was reached. "The children certainly will benefit the most."