Note: Please donate to the E.A.S.E. Legal Fund. There are significant legal fees that have been spent to defend our son, and there will be additional legal fees incurred in the pursuit of justice for the him. This will help to defray these fees.
Two days ago, my wife and I were at a grocery store near our home, and we saw the deputy who interrogated our son. At this time, we are not sharing how we were able to know that it was him, but it was him, the guy who laughed at our son during his interrogation.
Standing a few feet from him, I got his attention, and he confirmed his name. Then I told him, calmly, what I wanted to say.
"My son is ----- Snodgrass."
He immediately knew who I was talking about, and his face fell dramatically, with a look that appeared to intersect at resignation and embarrassment. And he looked down at the floor for a moment, then lifted his eyes again to look at me.
"We are very upset about what happened to our son. I want to introduce myself to you. My name is Doug Snodgrass."
And I left.
There are some items we would like to discuss with you, the Orange Army, who will always be the first to know.
It gives us tremendous pleasure to announce that we are partnering with the Drug Policy Alliance, who have reached out to us offering their support. We have great admiration for their work and share common goals. We want to see the end of zero tolerance policies in schools, which school districts and law enforcement continue to use as to way to sidestep civil rights protections of children. We also believe that the time has come to discontinue undercover drug sting operations in schools.
We will keep you informed of further developments in this partnership.
We have received a new mental health evaluation from the Temecula Valley Unified School District, which was conducted and written by a member of their administrative staff. Here are a few highlights that are included in the final report the district provided to us.
- The district believes our son no longer is in need of counseling services and wants to remove these services from his Individualized Education Program (IEP).
- The district believes that the intense anxiety our son has told them he currently experiences is caused by energy drinks.
- The report states that our son does not attend church.
At a recent IEP meeting, an official from the school district expressed surprise and disbelief that after nearly six months, our son is still bothered by his arrest, interrogation and incarceration.
At numerous IEP meetings, there have been blatant religious displays by administration officials, including a bible laid on the table, a necktie which displays bible verses, and more.
Stay tuned, more is coming...
Related reading:
ALTERNET: Cops Go Undercover at High School to Bust Special-Needs Kid for Pot: Why Are Police So Desperate to Throw Kids in Jail? (reported to have been viewed by over 300,000 people)
MSN: Cops use autistic teen in undercover drug bust
HUFFINGTON POST: Drug Cop Goes Undercover in High School and Arrests Autistic Student
ABC NEWS: Parents Claim Calif. School District Failed to Protect Autistic Son in Drug Sting (with video)
Our Autistic Son was Handcuffed and Arrested in School, We Were Not Notified
Our Autistic Son's Arrest in the Press, YOU got the District's Attention, They Freak Out
Undercover deputy targeted mentally disabled teen, parents say
Our Autistic Son's Arrest: The Judge Has Ruled, VICTORY!!!
Our Autistic Son's Arrest: We're Suing the Bastards
Our Autistic Son: Stunning Claim Alleges School Used 8th Grader as “Bait” in Secret Drug Sting
Our Autistic Son's Arrest: Meet the People Behind the Temecula Special Ed Scandal