School order 'unlawful;' case dismissed

WATKINS GLEN--The Watkins Glen court has once again ruled in favor of Hector resident Kristina Hansen. Justice Connie Fern Miller's ruling, dated June 9, dismissed the charge of criminal trespass in the third degree at the Watkins Glen School District. She also stated Superintendent Tom Phillips' order for Hansen to receive written permission before visiting school grounds was not lawful, adding this cannot make Hansen's visits to campus unlawful.
The case started with an attempt by Hansen to attend a closed staff meeting March 11. There was a quorum of school board members at the meeting, but was asked to leave by police. Superintendent Tom Phillips then required Hansen to seek written approval before visiting any school or district office. Hansen was then arrested while attempting to attend a March 21 meeting of the school board without written approval.
The court dismissed the charge from the initial arrest, but the charge was refiled in court. Prior to Miller's most recent ruling, Hansen was again arrested May 4 while attending a tennis match at the school. This charge was also dismissed, but can still be refiled by the prosecutor.
According to Miller's ruling, while Hansen attempted to enter the March 11 staff meeting by following behind someone who had a key card for school access, since there was a quorum of school board members at the meeting, she should have been allowed to attend.
"Regardless of the declarations of Mr. Phillips and Ms. [Kelly] McCarthy that the meeting was 'not open to the public,' it should have been," according to Miller's ruling. "Ms. Hansen was within her rights in requesting and attempting to attend the 'State of the District' address scheduled to be given at this meeting."
The ruling also claims that while she circumvented security measures at the school, the evidence shows she would not have been allowed entry had she followed proper security protocols. It also states that since there were no students in school that day, Hansen did not pose a threat to students. However, Phillips said he also has a responsibility to protect his staff.
"It's a little perplexing to me, in that staff was here," Phillips said. "I take seriously my responsibility to protect all people from security breaches, not just students. I still have a duty to ensure the safety and security of the building when staff is present."
Miller's ruling also said Hansen entered the building "without breach of the peace, disruptive behavior or physical contact with any person."
"The only 'disruption' was wholly on the part of Superintendent Phillips, who can clearly be seen confronting Kristina Hansen in an aggressive fashion, flailing his arms, shaking papers in his hand and repeatedly pointing to the door," Miller wrote. "In contrast, Ms. Hansen kept her hands at her side, spoke only when it appeared she was asked a question and waited patiently for the police to arrive after she was denied to enter through the second set of locked doors."
Addressing Phillips' order for written permission following the March 11 incident, Miller wrote the order "does not have a legitimate basis," and was "procedurally defective." She added the letter to Hansen was ambiguous and vague and does not specify if Hansen was barred from entering school grounds or just school buildings. Miller said even in circumstances where an incident might warrant restrictions, these must not be "unlimited or excessive, or unreasonably infringe on protected rights."
"It appears to have been an overreaction to a relatively benign infraction of school rules by a citizen who reasonably believed she had the right to attend the open session of a meeting attended by a quorum of the board of education," Miller wrote.
Miller noted in this case, the defendant's presence in the building could not be the basis of a charge just because she previously refused to leave.
"It would give tremendous power to the complainant herein to exclude everyone solely within his discretion, and this cannot be the law because it is dictatorial in nature, and no one can be invested with that sole power," Miller said.
Miller said the blanket restriction issued by Phillips was "clearly unlawful" in that it barred Hansen "for all times and all purposes from public school property."
Hansen has filed a lawsuit against Phillips, McCarthy and Officers Isaac Marmor and Jamie Coleman of the Watkins Glen Police Department. The claims are for false arrest, unlawful imprisonment, abuse of process, malicious prosecution, trespass to person and battery.
"No citizen of the United States, the state of New York, of the Watkins School District, needs to ask 'permission' of anyone in order to exercise her constitutional or statutory rights," Miller wrote. "Furthermore, no person in authority should have unlimited and arbitrary control to decide when 'permission' will be granted."
Phillips said he will be speaking with the prosecutor and school attorney in regards to how they will react should Hansen visit school grounds again.
"All of our actions from day one have been on the advice of counsel," Phillips said. "We will follow our legal advice and move forward from here."