Column: Expulsion Too Harsh For Some Of The Busted
The problem with zero tolerance policies is that they leave no room for discretion by those who are charged with applying them.
Take the case of 15 Mississippi Valley State University students who were expelled last week after being caught in a campus drug raid conducted by a half-dozen law-enforcement agencies.
All 15 were treated identically under the university's zero-tolerance policy for drugs, even though the severity of their alleged crimes were not the same. Yes, the 10 students who were charged with the felony of selling marijuana deserved to be kicked out of school. Anyone selling drugs on campus not only isn't smart enough to be in college, but they are putting their fellow students at risk, since violence and drug-trafficking often go hand in hand.
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