Unconstitutional and unnecessary force was used on 7-year-old student
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The ACLU of Missouri has filed a lawsuit in federal court today against the Kansas City Public Schools on behalf of a child who was handcuffed by an elementary school resource officer in 2014.
Kalyb Wiley Primm, 7, was handcuffed for more than 15 minutes while waiting in the principal’s office for a parent to arrive after he was removed from class, handcuffed, and pushed down a hallway after he cried out in response to being bullied in his classroom. At the time, he stood less than 4 feet tall and weighed less than 50 pounds.
“This child committed no crime, threatened no one, and posed no danger to anyone,” said ACLU of Missouri Legal Director Tony Rothert. “Gratuitously handcuffing children is cowardly and violates the constitution.”
The incident also violated state policy, which says that the use of restraints for elementary and secondary students should be used only in extreme circumstances or emergencies.
After this incident, Kalyb was so scared to return to school that his mother withdrew him. He was homeschooled for the next two years.
“Our children need trained and concerned figures in schools that know how to intervene. It's not okay to abuse your authority and handcuff kids as a means of discipline,” said Tomesha Primm, Kalyb's mother. “As a parent, I want to make sure no other child – in Kansas City or anywhere else in the country – experiences what my son did.”
Missouri has the highest black-white disparity rate in the U.S. when it comes to disciplining elementary school students, according to a 2015 study by The Center for Civil Rights Remedies at the University of California-Los Angeles.
“What happened to this child is simply wrong,” said ACLU of Missouri Executive Director Jeffrey Mittman. “This is a call to action for all of us to stop the unnecessary punishment that happens to young boys of color all across our nation – and particularly in Missouri.”
Today’s lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri.
Read the full complaint below.
