The Volokh Conspiracy - Shocking, If True:

There may well be other facts -- threats, face-to-face insults that seemed likely to start an imminent fight, or some such -- that would make the story different, and the quote from Dr. Edkins suggests some such might be present (though the rest of the story seems to suggest otherwise). But if the claim that the schoolgirl was arrested for refusing to sit with the Asian students (published in the Daily Mail (U.K.)) is fairly accurate and complete, then it's quite stunning:

A teenage schoolgirl was arrested by police for racism after refusing to sit with a group of Asian students because some of them did not speak English....

The 14-year-old [Codie Stott] - who was released without charge - said it had been a simple matter of commonsense and accused the school and police of an over-the-top reaction....

Codie was attending a GCSE science class at Harrop Fold High School in Worsley, Greater Manchester, when the incident happened.

The teenager had not been in school the day before due to a hospital appointment and had missed the start of a project, so the teacher allocated her a group to sit with.

"She said I had to sit there with five Asian pupils," said Codie yesterday.

"Only one could speak English, so she had to tell that one what to do so she could explain in their language. Then she sat me with them and said 'Discuss'."

According to Codie, the five - four boys and a girl - then began talking in a language she didn't understand, thought to be Urdu, so she went to speak to the teacher.

"I said 'I'm not being funny, but can I change groups because I can't understand them?' But she started shouting and screaming, saying 'It's racist, you're going to get done by the police'." ...

After questioning on suspicion of committing a section five racial public order offence, her mother Nicola says she was placed in a bare cell for three-and-a-half hours then released without charge....

[School insiders] say [Codie's] comments afterwards raised further concerns, for example allegedly referring to the students as "blacks" - something she denied yesterday....

Headteacher Dr Antony Edkins said: "An allegation of a serious nature was made concerning a racially motivated remark by one student towards a group of Asian students new to the school and new to the country."

"We aim to ensure a caring and tolerant attitude towards people and pupils of all ethnic backgrounds and will not stand for racism in any form." ...

Thanks to Terence Edwards for the pointer.

	[Eugene Volokh, October 13, 2006 at 12:56pm] Trackbacks Shocking, If True: There may well be other facts -- threats, face-to-face insults that seemed likely to start an imminent fight, or some such -- that would make the story different, and the quote from Dr. Edkins suggests some such might be present (though the rest of the story seems to suggest otherwise). But if the claim that the schoolgirl was arrested for refusing to sit with the Asian students (published in the Daily Mail (U.K.)) is fairly accurate and complete, then it's quite stunning: A teenage schoolgirl was arrested by police for racism after refusing to sit with a group of Asian students because some of them did not speak English.... The 14-year-old [Codie Stott] - who was released without charge - said it had been a simple matter of commonsense and accused the school and police of an over-the-top reaction.... Codie was attending a GCSE science class at Harrop Fold High School in Worsley, Greater Manchester, when the incident happened. The teenager had not been in school the day before due to a hospital appointment and had missed the start of a project, so the teacher allocated her a group to sit with. "She said I had to sit there with five Asian pupils," said Codie yesterday. "Only one could speak English, so she had to tell that one what to do so she could explain in their language. Then she sat me with them and said 'Discuss'." According to Codie, the five - four boys and a girl - then began talking in a language she didn't understand, thought to be Urdu, so she went to speak to the teacher. "I said 'I'm not being funny, but can I change groups because I can't understand them?' But she started shouting and screaming, saying 'It's racist, you're going to get done by the police'." ... After questioning on suspicion of committing a section five racial public order offence, her mother Nicola says she was placed in a bare cell for three-and-a-half hours then released without charge.... [School insiders] say [Codie's] comments afterwards raised further concerns, for example allegedly referring to the students as "blacks" - something she denied yesterday.... Headteacher Dr Antony Edkins said: "An allegation of a serious nature was made concerning a racially motivated remark by one student towards a group of Asian students new to the school and new to the country." "We aim to ensure a caring and tolerant attitude towards people and pupils of all ethnic backgrounds and will not stand for racism in any form." ... Thanks to Terence Edwards for the pointer.