The Riverside Press Enterprise recently asked us to comment for an article they were preparing, and is out now, Schools get reprieve from undercover drug busts. We provided the following written statement:
It is fantastic news that there have been no schools in the Southern California region that participated in undercover school drug stings. We find these practices to be extremely abusive and pointless as they ultimately destroy the lives of so many students, do not make them any safer, and violate their civil rights. Hopefully, these shameful acts will be banned in every school district. We expect our schools to protect our children and not teach them how to buy drugs.
For the foreseeable future, we will release public statements here on Daily Kos, and on our newly created Twitter account, @TemeculaPost.
Here are a few observations on the article.
Hell will freeze over before they will admit...
Sheriff’s officials declined to say whether they chose not to pursue an investigation or if school districts declined to participate.
[...]
Sheriff’s officials, however, said the (Snodgrass) lawsuit had no bearing on the department’s posture toward the investigations.
Each summer, the Riverside Sheriff's Department (RSD) would secure an agreement with a school superintendent to allow an undercover operation in their district.
Last March we reported that every superintendent in Riverside County received a letter from the
Drug Policy Alliance's Lynne Lyman, California State Director and Theisha Nadoo, Senior Staff Attorney, along with a copy of the Rolling Stone investigative piece about our son,
The Entrapment of Jesse Snodgrass. (Ms. Lyman and Ms. Nadoo also wrote the
LA Times Op-Ed on this subject).
We can now also report that multiple school districts in Riverside County were contacted by the American Civil Liberties Union around the same time regarding RSD's undercover school drug stings.
As to whether RSD chose not to continue an annual event that, according to VICE, was very lucrative financially, or whether it was a matter of school districts declining to participate, you are welcome to draw your own conclusions.
Suddenly, a lonely view
However, Jonathan Greenberg, superintendent of the Perris Union High School District, said at the time that he wouldn’t hesitate to have undercover officers in his schools again, calling the operation an unqualified success. A year later, Greenberg said, his views have not changed.
Greenberg said fellow educators might disagree with his views, but he feels strongly that anything schools can do to reduce the amount of drugs on campus will benefit all students.
“I don’t want anyone to think 21 Jump Street is the only thing we need to do,” he said. “It’s one extra tool we have.”
As we recently wrote, history is filled with people like Jonathan Greenberg, who have placed themselves squarely on the wrong side of civil rights issues, and history is never kind to them. Greenberg has never been kind to us, ("
some parents will excuse their children's behavior all the way to state prison"), or the two dozen children that were abused by the 2014 sting operation that he participated in, ("
we hope for them that this is the worst day of their lives.")
In the comments section of the latest Press Enterprise article, the 2nd comment from the top raises questions that may or may not be relevant to Greenberg's motivation. Again, you may draw your own conclusions.
Email: jonathan.greenberg@puhsd.org
Telephone:(951) 943-6369 x80102 or x80103
In the interest of giving credit that is long overdue
Sarah Burge of the Press Enterprise, who wrote the most recent article, is the reporter who first broke this story in February, 2013. She has reported on the RSD stings long before the Temecula sting, and has stayed on this story throughout.
For background on our family's story...
Rolling Stone magazine:
The Entrapment of Jesse Snodgrass.
VICE: The War on Kids.
Please donate to the Jesse Snodgrass Legal Fund.