Pro-anarchy teen changes mind about dropping lawsuit against school board

By The Associated Press

06.09.02

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Editor's note: After this initial story was posted, it was learned that Katie Sierra's lawyer had announced that the lawsuit filed by his client was not being dropped after all. "She just felt that there was too much at stake," Roger Forman of Charleston said on June 6 after speaking with Sierra's mother about their stated intention to drop the case. The original headline has been changed.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A former Sissonville High School student who was suspended for trying to start an anarchy club is dropping her lawsuit against the Kanawha County Board of Education.

Katie Sierra, 15, plans to travel and is considering moving out of state. She will not be in Charleston when her case is scheduled to go to trial this summer in Kanawha County Circuit Court, Erik Engle, the school board's lawyer, said this week.

Sierra's lawyer, Roger Forman, said he could not comment on her whereabouts.

Engle said board members are glad that Forman filed a petition to dismiss the lawsuit. However, Engle said board members were disappointed that they would not be able to present their side to a jury.

Sierra was suspended in October for trying to start the anarchy club and for wearing T-shirts with messages opposing U.S. military action in Afghanistan.

Sierra's mother, Amy Sierra, withdrew her daughter from school last fall after the girl reported being shoved and elbowed in the back. Sierra has been studying at home through a computer-learning program paid for by the county school system.

The director of the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, which championed Sierra's cause, praised Sierra's efforts.

"We continue to believe that the school violated Katie's First Amendment rights," ACLU Executive Director Andrew Schneider said on June 5. "But we understand and respect the Sierra family's wishes in this very personal decision."

Forman's petition asks Kanawha County Circuit Judge James Stucky to dismiss the lawsuit without prejudice, which would allow the case to be reopened. The school board has asked that the case be dismissed with prejudice, which would bar further action.

Stucky is set to hear arguments on the petition June 21.

"This issue is one that can and will recur. This isn't a problem that is by any means resolved," Forman said. "We are talking about some very fundamental constitutional issues of free speech here."

Engle said the board did not want the case revived.

"After what they've gone through to bring this case along, it doesn't seem fair that it would be dismissed just so they could just bring it back when it was more convenient," Engle said. "This needs to be put to rest."

Update

Jury decides West Virginia student can form anarchy club
Katie Sierra says she'll go back to Sissonville High and start her club in the fall.  07.16.02

Related

John Tinker pledges support for pro-anarchy teen
Participant in landmark Supreme Court case upholding students' free-speech rights urges Katie Sierra not to back down.  12.04.01