Judge: Pot Penalty Too Harsh

[SmokeWeed]

A student who was caught with drugs in his dorm room last year won his appeal against NYU last week after claiming the university's punishment was too harsh.

But now NYU is appealing the ruling.

Michael Quercia, a math major from North Babylon, New York, was sentenced to 500 hours of community service and kicked out of school until 2007 or later by the University Judicial Board after Public Safety officials found what was suspected to be marijuana in his Lafayette Street residence hall suite.

Quercia's lawyer, Bernard Kleinman, filed an appeal in the Manhattan Supreme Court last June. Last week Justice Walter Tolub ruled that the sentence imposed by NYU was "too draconian," overturning the Judicial Board ruling and bumping it down to 100 hours of community service. The judgment also stated that Quercia shall be "permitted to be reinstated as a student at NYU" and to enroll in classes after completing the 100 hours.

"The university is particularly heavy-handed here," Kleinman said. "They can't just arbitrarily and capriciously decide that they're going to kick you out of school."

University spokesman John Beckman defended the Judicial Board's ruling and process in an e-mail.

"The potential disciplinary sanctions for drug use, possession or sale at NYU are clear, and they range up to and include expulsion," he said. "We have a disciplinary process that is fair, appropriate for our institution and has been in place for many years; the sanction this student received resulted from that process."

Quercia was arrested and charged with narcotics possession in May 2005 after a Public Safety officer found "a green leafy substance" and various drug paraphernalia in his room, according to court documents. The officer alerted the New York Police Department, which then identified the substance as marijuana.

According to the ruling, the university sent Quercia a letter within a day of the arrest informing him of his immediate suspension and instructing him to initiate a hearing with the Judicial Board. But Kleinman, Quercia's attorney, said he did not want his client to face the university hearing before facing the charges in court, because doing so would force him to waive his Fifth Amendment right not to testify against himself.

Quercia appeared before a New York Criminal Court judge in January and pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct -- a violation, but not a criminal offense, Kleinman said. He was charged a $95 fine and sentenced to 10 days of community service.

Quercia finally appeared before the Judicial Board in May for violation of the university substance abuse guidelines, Kleinman said. The university panel concluded the substance was marijuana and ultimately handed down its decision for the 500 hours of service and immediate suspension from the university.

Kleinman emphasized that his client never actually admitted to having possession of the drug, calling NYU's conclusion "an assumption that it was marijuana. There was never any forensic evidence or testing done on it."

Beckman pointed out that there are limits to judicial review on universities' academic and disciplinary decisions.

"While there are instances in which a judge can modify a university's disciplinary decision, NYU does not think this case is one of those instances," Beckman said. "We are definitely appealing this decision."

Newshawk: *********** - 420 Magazine
Source: Washington Square News (New York U, NY Edu)
Pubdate: Wed, 06 Sep 2006
Author: Josh Burd
Copyright: 2006 Washington Square News
Contact: opinion@nyunews.com
Website: Washington Square News

[qWERTY]

Good for him, I have a couple friends that go to NYU.

[SmokeWeed]

That's ALOT of BS......500 hours community service @ minimum wage is over $2,500.00 penalty......WAY TOO MUCH.....even the $95 fine and 10 days comm service is harsh! that's a 100.00 ticket in NYC and thats all for 1st time offenders. I think the judges sentence already took liberties on NYUs behalf in ordering comm service too............