If you ever had the pleasure of watching Judge Jeff Boles at work, you heard him tell every defendant they were entitled to certain rights simply because they were fortunate enough to live in these United States.
It was always a great reminder for everyone in the Hendricks Circuit Court’s room, now the province of Judge Dan Zielinski. We don’t often think about the rights we have, but they’re one of the most amazing things about this amazing nation. We can worship whoever we choose, even if that’s nobody. We can share our opinions without fear of arrest. We can meet up with other people and form all sorts of groups. And if we find ourselves in handcuffs, we’re protected by another set of rights. (If you’ve never been in the Circuit courtroom on the third floor of the Courthouse, go see it. Ask about the elaborate painting on the south wall. As a citizen, you’re one of its owners.)
Then there are those rights that people seem to believe actually exist … even though they don’t. Spend ten minutes reading posts on Nextdoor or a Facebook chatter page, and you’re bound to encounter some. While I am neither an attorney nor have I have played one on TV and therefore am no legal authority, I’m comfortable explaining why supposed “rights” like these are … well, wrong.
“I have a right to know what the cops were doing at my neighbor’s house!” I’m sorry, but you don’t. The county’s first responders all share a commitment to protecting the privacy of those they serve. If there was an embarrassing situation in your home that required the police or the paramedics, would you want them sharing all the details with your neighbors? Didn’t think so. I understand you’d like to know what’s going on, but you don’t have a right to know unless you’re directly involved.
“My child’s principal searched their locker, violating their right to privacy!” Nope, that right doesn’t exist. In fact, court rulings have confirmed that public school students have no legal reason to expect a right to privacy where their lockers, desks, backpacks, and other “personal” spaces are concerned.
“As an American property owner, I have the God-given right to do whatever I want with my land!” Well, that depends largely upon where you live. But if you live in an Indiana county (which I assume you do) you don’t have that right … even if God disagrees. Your local government gets to decide what uses of your property are permissible and which are prohibited. That isn’t to frustrate or deprive you. It’s to protect the investment you and your neighbors have made in that property. Imagine how your life might change if your next-door-neighbor’s home was replaced by a sewage treatment plant. Those laws and the limits they include are designed to keep that from happening.
“I have a right to know why my son’s classmate got kicked out of school!” Yep, you guessed it: no, you don’t. In fact, federal law says you definitely lack that right. The Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act bars anyone except a student’s parents (and not even them after their child turns 18) from seeing that student’s educational records. That includes details about discipline. Schools and their employees are legally prohibited from sharing any of that information. Under the law, they can’t even confirm whether a student was or wasn’t disciplined, so don’t bother asking.
“Well, I know I have the right to learn everything the school is doing for safety.” Sorry to disappoint you once again, but information about security is so sensitive that state law makes it one of a handful of permitted uses of executive sessions – a type of government meeting the public is prohibited from attending. As I reminded a group of angry parents who arrived at a meeting during a major cybersecurity crisis and demanded to know everything we were doing to keep kids safe, “if we share what we’re doing with good guys like you, the bad guys will hear it, too.”
Think I’m wrong about any of these? If you can find a citation in either federal or state constitutions and codes that specifically states the right you claim, please share it and I’ll credit the correction to you in this space.