Appeals Court Upholds Gun Possession Conviction of Brighton High School Student

The Massachusetts Appeals Court ruled Thursday that the physical search in 2004 of student Amenhotep Smith at Brighton High School, which led to discovery of a loaded handgun with four rounds of hollow-point ammunition, was reasonable and that the evidence was correctly allowed in his 2006 trial. Smith was convicted at trial of unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition.

Defense counsel had argued at appeal that the search violated the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights which, the appeals court noted, "in some circumstances... affords greater protection against arbitrary government action" than the Fourth Amendment." An assistant headmaster at the school searched Smith's jacket and found the handgun and ammunition.

The appeals court nonetheless upheld the trial judge's finding that the results of the search were admissible at trial:

In his findings, the motion judge determined that the search was justified based on three factors: the defendant's violation of a school rule by his presence in the hallway during class; his violation of a school rule by his failure to enter the building through the authorized entrance, namely, the front doors, which are secured with metal detectors, during specific arrival hours; and his failure to follow an arranged plan of dropping his belongings in Prieto's office at the start of the school day.

As such, the appeals court appears to have adjudicated the case based on the facts and case law, rather than calling into question more fundamental issues related to unreasonable search and seizure or the relation of Massachusetts to federal law.

Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley, whose office prosecuted the case and argued the appeals case, released a statement Thursday:

"Our job doesn’t start with a trial or end with a conviction,” Conley said. “We prepare our cases carefully and ethically to withstand the scrutiny of the jury, and we build them on solid legal foundations so they stand up on appeal. Public safety demands that we take action when someone brings a loaded gun to school, and public confidence demands that our action be lasting and meaningful.”

The appeals court ruling upholds Smith's conviction on the gun and ammunition charges for which he was sentencde in 2006 to one year in prison.

See also: Allston-Brighton TAB and UniversalHub.


Image of handgun by robertnelson provided through a Creative Commons license.

Three Brighton Seniors Are Valedictorians at BPS High Schools

Three Brighton high school seniors earned the honor of valedictorian in their graduating class at their schools.

Siu (John) Lee, Ruo Chen, and Keaboka Nyumbu have been named valedictorians of Another Course to College in Brighton, Brighton High School, and Odyssey High School (PDF link) in South Boston, respectively. All are high schools in the Boston Public Schools. Information provided by BPS Director of Public Affairs Jonathan Palumbo indicate that their countries of origin are Hong Kong, China, and Lesotho, respectively.

Lee has not decided where he will attend college next year, but the other two have: Chen will enroll in Harvard University and Nyumbu will attend Northeastern University.

There are two other secondary schools located in Allston-Brighton: Vivian Mbawuike of Mattapan and Natalie Bellevue were named valedictorians of the Boston Community Leadership Academy (PDF) in Brighton and the Horace Mann School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Allston, respectively.

Of the 38 valedictorians in BPS's high schools, one (Chen) will attend Harvard University, three will attend Boston College, and two or three (decision not finalized) will attend Boston University.

The students were celebrated at a luncheon last Tuesday at the Boston Harbor Hotel attended by Mayor Thomas Menino, BPS Superintendent Dr. Carol Johnson, and Boston School Committee Chair Dr. Elizabeth Reilinger.

The BPS press release can be found here (MS Word format document) and a spreadsheet listing the students and schools can be found here (MS Excel format document). Via All About BPS blog.


Image of diploma by gadgetdude provided through a Creative Commons license.

NY Times: Brighton High School College Preparatory Program Successful

The New York Times ran a front-page story Thursday featuring the recent success of Brighton High School in not only getting more urban students to graduate, but in preparing them for -- and then getting into -- college:

Those efforts, and others across the country, reflect a growing sense of urgency among educators that the primary goal of many large high schools serving low-income and urban populations — to move students toward graduation — is no longer enough. Now, educators say, even as they struggle to lift dismal high school graduation rates, they must also prepare the students for college, or some form of post-secondary school training, with the skills to succeed...

At Brighton High in Boston, for the first time this year, John Travers, the head of counseling, and his staff visited every freshman English class to begin mapping out the steps toward college: Maintaining a high grade point average. Taking tough classes. Building a résumé...

In 2005, 74.2 percent of the graduating seniors went on to post-secondary education: of those, 56 percent went to four-year colleges, 33 percent to two-year schools and 11 percent to advanced training, Mr. Travers said. The colleges at the top of the list: Bunker Hill Community College, the University of Massachusetts at Boston and Massachusetts Bay Community College.

A couple of comments posted online by readers:

I don't understand how anyone can defend lowering expectations for some of our students. In my view, that has been the problem for far too many years. Perhaps some students will fail, but we degrade them by not holding them to the same standards of excellence that we expect of our best and our brightest.
— Ken Schwarz, New York City

College is not being presented as the only option, nor is it being propositioned as a definite. The point of early college awareness is to tell ALL students, regardless of their socioeconomic situations or neighborhoods, that if they want to go and if they work hard enough, they can go to college. It becomes a possibility. In a country where we harp on the idea that opportunity comes with hard work, we should allow everyone the possibility to have as many options or ideas for their own futures as possible. Presenting college as an option in no way negates the option of trade school or the military; it merely broadens the way students can think about their lives and what they want for themselves. I find it appalling that we should limit and stifle the conversation about higher education in order to keep our workforce in line. Education isn’t just about money; it’s about seeing the world and ourselves from new and different perspectives. All post-secondary options should be presented to students, so they can take ownership over the trajectory of their own lives.
— l.o., Massachusetts

Of course, this distinction for Brighton High School piles on top of their victory last month in the state's high school Division 4 Super Bowl, thereby completing an undefeated season, and a National Bronze Medal awarded by U.S. News and World Report. And how can we forget their contribution to the human flag to celebrate Brighton's 200th anniversary?

Via the All About BPS.

Brighton High School Wins Division 4 Super Bowl

The Brighton High School Bengals went 12-0 for the season by beating West Bridgewater 16-8 in the Division 4 Super Bowl Saturday. The Boston Herald has the play-by-play.

Dan Shaughnessy has a nice story in the Boston Globe about the kids who practice not on campus, but have to take the T to Cleveland Circle's Cassidy Field / Playground. I feel sorry for everyone who has to share a bus or subway car with the sweaty team following their practices, since they have no place at Cassidy to shower. You would think the DCR could make an arrangement for them across the street at the Reilly Memorial Rink and pool.

Three High Schools in Brighton Receive National Bronze Medals

U. S. News and World Report announces it's list of the top 100 public high schools in the country, giving each a gold medal.  Not surprisingly, Boston Latin School comes in 19th place.  Media and Technology Charter High School took 99th place.

Here in Brighton, three schools were among the 1,086 awarded bronze medals:  Another Course to College and Boston Community Leadership Academy, both pilot schools occupying part of the former Taft Middle School's building, and Brighton High School across the street.

Via the Boston Public School's "All About BPS" blog.

Brighton High School Football to the Super Bowl

It wasn't many years ago when the Brighton High School football team had seasons where they fought to avoid a winless record. No longer. In Tuesday evening's semi-final game, the Bengals defeated Manchester Essex 28-7 to gain a berth in the Division 4 Superbowl game on Saturday at Stonehill College.

The Boston Herald and Boston Globe both come through with more coverage of Brighton High School football than they gave to Allston-Brighton District 9 City Council elections. The A-B TAB chimes in, too... albeit with historically more balanced coverage.

Brighton High School Footbal Team Enters Playoffs Undefeated

While the Boston College Eagles' football team missed out on their perfect season with a 27-17 loss to Florida State last Saturday night, the Brighton High School Bengals' football team finished their regular season Friday night undefeated at 10-0 after a 30-6 win over Dorchester.  The Bengals continue on to the post-season with a division 4 playoff game.

6-0 Football on Both Sides of Brighton

Football fans have watched Boston College's football program rack up a 6-0 record so far this year leading into today's game against Notre Dame.  The Eagles are ranked 4th in the nation in the AP and USA Today polls, and 8th in the nation in what is arguably the most mathematically-justified algorithm.

Far fewer people have noticed, however, that on the other side of town at Brighton High School a team with a long history of losing records has totally turned the program around and rebuilt into a powerhouse.  They beat Madison Park Friday night for the first time in school history, thereby staying undefeated this year with a 6-0 record.  Bengals coach Timo Philip told the Boston Herald:

“It’s all about building the program,” Philip said. “What’s important is that we didn’t take a step back from our goal, which is to go 12-0. They played tough, they got up and came back (after MP took an 8-6 lead) with no pouting or no pointing fingers. We just play good, hard football, and that’s what we’ve been pointing to.”

Brighton High School made it to the Super Bowl game last year, but lost to West Bridgewater 34-14.  Sounds like they have a bigger goal this year.

Human Flag Recreation: This Morning at 8:30!

Part of the Brighton-Allston Bicentennial celebration.

Re-creation of the Centennial Living Flag at Brighton High School, 8:30-10 a.m. This event will re-create the “Living Flag” which was the cornerstone of the Centennial Celebration in 1907. More than 400 children from local schools dressed in red, white and blue and holding colored bunting will be arranged to form a living American flag. Location is the steps of Brighton High School. An ice cream party will follow.

Brighton High School, 25 Warren Street, Brighton.