Jesse Jackson leads a rally in protest of the expulsion in November

January 11, 2000
Web posted at: 12:25 p.m. EST (1725 GMT)

In this story: Ruling released on Internet 'A violent confrontation' RELATED STORIES, SITES

URBANA, Illinois (CNN) -- A federal judge in Illinois ruled Tuesday that the Decatur school board acted properly in expelling six students for fighting at a high school football game. The racially charged case had been adopted by the Rev. Jesse Jackson as an example of school discipline run amok.

But U.S. District Court Judge Michael McCuskey upheld the expulsions, ruling that the students did not prove their rights were violated by the Decatur school district's "zero-tolerance" anti-violence policy.

RESOURCES Read the ruling Acrobat Reader required   MESSAGE BOARD Keeping Schools Safe

McCuskey issued his ruling on the Internet from Urbana, where he heard three days of testimony last month.

The ruling is a blow to Jackson, whose Rainbow/PUSH Coalition filed the lawsuit on the students' behalf and led protests in Decatur against the district's policy.

Jackson, the six students and their families were scheduled to talk to reporters at a Chicago news conference.

Before the decision was issued, Rainbow/PUSH attorney Lewis Myers had said it should be a milestone in the debate on zero-tolerance policies, although he expected an appeal whatever the outcome.

As they presented their case to McCuskey, lawyers for Rainbow/PUSH pointed to statistics showing that school districts across the country expel a much higher proportion of black students than whites.

But McCuskey found the Decatur school district "did not act illegally, improperly or deny the students their constitutional rights."

The teens were expelled for two years after the September 17 brawl, which cleared the visitor's bleachers but caused no serious injuries.

After intervention by Jackson and Illinois Gov. George Ryan, the Decatur school board reduced the expulsions to one year and agreed to allow the teens to attend alternative schools. The board has refused to budge further despite repeated entreaties from Jackson.

McCuskey said the fight was violent even though the students involved used no weapons.

"This court firmly believes that the citizens and students of Decatur should be able to go to a high school football game and watch the contest on the field without worrying about a violent confrontation erupting in the stands which could engulf them in the conflict," he wrote.

The judge also said the students failed to prove the district's zero-tolerance policy affected its decision to expel the students.

And he ruled that the students, all black, did not provide any evidence that white students involved in fights had been treated differently by the school district.

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