St. Louis, USA - A federal appeals court has ruled that a lawsuit filed against the state over a raid at a northeast Missouri Christian school for wayward youth may proceed to trial, allowing the nearly decade-long fight to continue.
Missouri juvenile authorities sent a bus to Heartland Christian Academy in October 2001 and removed all but five of the 120 students living on campus at the time. The state cited concerns over child abuse related to the school's disciplinary methods.
Three days later, a judge allowed the children to return. Heartland, along with some parents and students, immediately sued. In 2004, a federal judge prohibited future removals from the school unless students were deemed in imminent danger, a ruling later upheld by the Eighth Circuit.
Heartland, its parent corporation and former students and parents sued again in 2006, seeking unspecified damages. A three-judge panel of the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Monday allowed the lawsuit to proceed to trial. A court date has not been set.
When the students were removed from Heartland, the state cited concerns with the school's disciplinary methods, including spankings and allegations that misbehaving students were forced to stand in hip-deep manure. Sharpe said kids were made to shovel manure but never to stand in it.