Pubdate: Fri, 06 Mar 2009 Source: Peterborough Examiner, The (CN ON) Copyright: 2009 Osprey Media Group Inc. Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/4VLGnvUl Website: http://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2616 Author: Joel Parkes Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n238/a06.html COURAGE TO STAND UP FOR STUDENTS' RIGHTS "Whose rights win?" (Feb. 26) - I fully support the response that Jean Grant has taken on behalf of her son, who was expelled by the PCVS principal for selling marijuana off school grounds. There are those in this community who look at the selling of marijuana as abhorrent and have difficulty with the merits of any legal challenge against it, but I feel that there is a much, much larger issue at play here that can't be ignored. The Charter Of Rights And Freedoms is meant to grant all citizens equal treatment and equal protections from undue state authority. There is no "different" tier of citizenship in this country. No person should be allowed to circumvent the rights granted in the Charter. If authority is given to any organization to disregard rules of evidence, search and seizure procedures and extracting confessions under duress then the actions of that authority should be called into question, as Ms. Grant and her son's lawyer are doing. I believe that the PCVS principal acted on his belief of what he was allowed to do within the law; in that sense, there can be no wrongdoing attributed to him. The wrongdoing took place in the drafting of legislation that overrode the Charter in the first place. Some people seem to think they should be able to inject a moral argument into this legal position. Even though they believe they are supporting an existing law, they are more or less saying the law is a flexible, arbitrary thing that should only apply to some of the people some of the time. If a law says the Charter is not applicable to all citizens then that law, not the Charter, is flawed, and it must be corrected. Erosions of basic freedoms don't have to be massive or obvious to still be erosions of freedoms. Small, incremental steps towards abandonment of our most basic rights are still steps towards a very dangerous thing. I commend Ms. Grant, her lawyer and, most of all, her son for taking these very courageous steps in addressing a very important issue that ultimately affects us all. Joel Parkes Lynhaven Road - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin