The Supreme Court of Virginia is refusing to rehear the case of a Virginia student who was suspended for pelting fellow students with plastic pellets, according to a civil liberties group.
The Rutherford Institute said Friday the court refused its petition to rehear the case of 14-year-old Andrew Mikel.
Spotsylvania High School officials said Mikel shot small, hollow plastic pellets at other students during lunch, which constituted “violent criminal conduct” and possession of a weapon. He was suspended in December 2010 for the rest of the school year.
The Rutherford Institute's president, John W. Whitehead, contends school administrators overreacted, even going as far as reporting the incident to the local sheriff's office. He said the school's punishment lacked common sense.
The justices had already refused the institute's initial appeal.
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