Brookfield student says song not meant as threat
By REID J. EPSTEIN
repstein@journalsentinel.com
Last Updated: Nov. 6, 2003
Brookfield - A 15-year-old Brookfield Central High School student's homemade rhymes earned him a five-day suspension and could get the honor student expelled because of a lyric deemed threatening toward the principal - perhaps the first such case in Wisconsin.

Sashwat Singh


Photo/File


Over the course of three months, Sashwat Singh wrote and recorded a 32-minute, 14-track rap compact disc featuring rants that made reference to illegal drug use and explicit sexual acts. He denigrates classmates, his mother and his high school. One track is a rap he used when campaigning to be class treasurer.

School administrators called the disc, which includes a song about the principal, Mark Cerutti, and conditions at the school, "gross disobedience or misconduct," an offense on par with making a bomb threat, bringing guns to school and arson.

But Singh's father, Dilip Singh, said he couldn't understand why his son was given the school's harshest penalty.

The other offenses "have to do with drugs and guns," Dilip Singh said. "When you look at what he did and compare one to the other, it doesn't make sense."

Sashwat Singh insisted the lyrics weren't meant as a threat, but "just random words that rhymed. I didn't think I had done anything wrong."

The vulgar lyrics suggest that if Cerutti doesn't get out of Brookfield, Singh will "beat your ass down." Singh, a Brookfield Central junior, also uses a slew of sexually explicit slurs to describe Cerutti.

"I don't approve of that kind of language," Dilip Singh said.

Cerutti said that he first became aware of Sashwat Singh's CD on Oct. 29, and that he was suspended later that day.

"Content is one part of the rationale for the action that's being taken," Cerutti said.

Matt Gibson, the Elmbrook School District superintendent, said he was "fact-finding to determine whether or not to move it toward expulsion." Gibson, who called the decision to issue Singh a five-day suspension "appropriate," said a ruling on further sanctions will come before Tuesday, when Singh is due back in school.

Case may be a first
Singh's suspension may mark the first time a high school student in Wisconsin has been removed from school for a song he'd written, said Ken Cole, the executive director of the Madison-based Wisconsin Association of School Boards.

Cole said a threat couched in music made outside school "isn't a matter of all in good sport or fun. If some incident occurs a month from now, someone will say, 'You knew back then.' We have to treat every incident very seriously."

A member of the school's band and choir who is enrolled in Advanced Placement and honors courses, Singh recorded and made the album with equipment on his home computer. Then, a month ago, he sold two copies to classmates and gave away three others. One of the copies landed in Cerutti's hands, and Oct. 29, the principal suspended Singh for five days. School has been dismissed on three days during that time, making Tuesday the first day Singh can return to school.

Dan Macallair, the executive director of the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice in San Francisco, said the suspension is indicative of a national trend toward zero tolerance in schools.

"We're punishing kids for things that we adults never would have been punished for when we were that age," he said. "If we try to criminalize every comment that adolescents made, all our kids would be locked up."

Neither Macallair nor Cole was familiar with any other case of a student being disciplined for a song recorded outside school.

If Gibson moves to expel Singh, the boy would be suspended for up to 10 more days, and an expulsion hearing would be held then.

'Kind of like love songs'
Andrew Franklin, Singh's Milwaukee-based attorney, said the boy was simply "expressing himself" and the school has no right to discipline him, even if some people object to portions of the CD on moral grounds.

"They're kind of like love songs and fantasies," he said of the disc's content. "It's a long list of outrageous things that he throws out there. I think it's an attempt to make him look like a deviant or a threat."

Franklin said Singh's lyrics do not constitute a threat to Cerutti, with whom Singh had never spoken.

"Nothing about this is inherently more threatening than an Eminem CD," he said, referring to the rapper who has been criticized for defaming women and gays in his lyrics. "He was expressing a viewpoint about how he thought the school was operating as a police state."

Cerutti referred questions about the disc's lyrics to Gibson, who said Thursday that he had not yet listened to it.

After Singh's suspension, Brookfield police followed him home and confiscated his home computer. Police returned the computer Nov. 4.

Dilip Singh said he has yet to listen to the entire disc but did read the text of the lyrics.

Sashwat Singh said his parents "weren't as mad as I thought they would be."

In any case, Singh said he wasn't a fan of his principal, who came to Brookfield Central at the start of this school year after working in the Madison schools and as an education consultant.




From the Nov. 7, 2003 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Sorry screwed up in the summary section. Meant to say "It might not have anything to do with the free music movement"

well I would've been expelled quite a few times myself when I was in school. sad state of affiars.

zero tollerance is stupid. It's only politically correct language to help calm parents fears

US Constitution, Amendment #1, can u r read verry gud now educasion peeple?

the police even took his PC. Wtf was that about. The whole thing smells of lawsuit. But than that hurts the rest that attend that school. I would say fire the people involved. That might teach em a lesson or two. Were is the US going. My guess would be well beyond the edge.

I'd like to send this kid a message.
How can I buy a copy of his CD?
anyone know where I can go to send him money for a copy?

It seems that the school is queueing itself for a lawsuit ... They really want to be sued ... And have this teen 30,000 USD or more granted in damages. Each time as I read about such a case in the USA, it turns so.
Check "Libertarian Rock" for info on such cases (incl. lawsuits and legal documents), http://www.libertarianrock.com/ ,as well as campaigns and proposals,
and also http://www.theroc.org (Rock Out Censorship) http://www.libertarianactivist.com/libertyyouth/
and, of course, ACLU (www.aclu.org)

In Liberty!
Critto

What the hell ever happened to freedom of expression?

This suspension is a blatant violation of this kid's civil rights.

Sue the school's ass for a bundle and have that pecker-headed retard of a principal fired!!!!!!!!!

Oh, yeah, sue the fucking cops for ripping off his machine!!!!!!!!

Let's call it theft by deception.

Most of the time schools are too lax on disciplining kids for bad behavior. But this is gross overkill. Reminds me of the incident a few years ago where they wanted to suspend some elementary kid because he kissed a classmate.

MissessEsthe.... I would say Email the guy that wrote the story and ask him. I think he would write another story about it and it might expose dmusic.com to a whole new group of people. The more they know the more we win........ I know this violated these Kids rights but suing is not the answer. You sue a school and everybody loses. Hey I am for this kid getting justice but I am also not for suing something that has enough troubles. School systems in the most part Lack good teachers and what not... There are always the few teachers that you will remember but than there are those that it is just a job.


I agree with axxix on one point. Fire the Principal.... Or put him up for review. I really think someone should look into why the Police got involved in the first place.


One other thing the zero tolerance policy really needs to be looked at. They go overboard with this damn policy way too much. It is almost like getting our kids ready to be controlled by the corporate and not to let them use their minds

Hey, I want to get a hold of this disc. This kid has talent. We can make him a star. Just sign on the bottom line. kid and everything will be alright.

zero tolerance = zero thinking

this sort of shit is why kids get guns and shoot up schools. If it were me I don't know but I wouldn't be suprised if I fucked some people up for that kind of bullshit, I'd probably beat the principal.. and I generally have pretty good rage control too, this is absurd and dispicable.

Ok.

It is my right as a US citizen to free speech. With that said, I can say anything I damn well please correct?

In that case... FUCK BUSH, and the rest of his cronies in the filthy white house. The RIAA can kiss my mothafuckin ass, twice, and then die.

When an HONOR student gets a criminal record for exercising free speech, what the FUCK does this say about this Land-O-The-Free, home of the fuckin brave.

It says it AINT free. This is land of the PIGS, the worthless arrogant SHITS in the white house, home of the gustapos and big business out to control everything from the world to where you take your shit at every day.

The rule of this land is $$$$. At this juncture, George W has sucked the d!ck of big media, Michael Powel still Colin Powell's little boy, thus the FCC puppet being controlled by 2 sets of strings.. father and fuckin bush..

So as a result, corporations get to ravage us, amerikkka gets to piss all over the world starting fucking wars that people of the world PROTEST against.. while the pockets of the pigs get lined with the loot at the expense of the blood of our young american fighters.

Who should give a flying fuck about the RIAA only.. the PROBLEM is bigger than this.. the RIAA is just one major stumbling block.

Election 2004 is coming up. Not that any of your votes count anyhow, since the media shapes your perceptions and the Primaries dictate who's going to win anyhow, but vote anyway, AGAINST the BUSH/POWELL/RICE/ASHCROFT/CHENEY regime.

All this bullshit happening in this society makes me wish one of those jets didn't crash into PA, but hit it's intended target instead.

Revolution is needed now. When 12 year olds get sued over fuckin music, copyrights get placed on everything from english language to your left nut, the UN gets flipped off in the name of "weapons of mass delusion", wars get started that no one wants, it's time for an overhaul of the entire US system. You either buy congress or blow them the fuck up to get results; the people don't matter anymore.

What I pulled from this article is another example of the abysmal condition of public schools.

For one, it makes absolutely no sense what so ever in suspending someone for something they didn't do in school. For example, if a school enforces a no smoking policy on campus, you can't go and suspend a student for having cigarette butt's in his car's ashtray. The only thing that suspending him will do is subjugate him and put undue pressure on him to cause much more dangerous resentment to boil. This could effectively ruin a kids life...not something that's taken lightly by the victim of such.

Since when is art considered threatening anyway? Artistic expression is the one of the foremost outlets for frustration and anger, and typically considered extreamly healthy to vent such through art instead of through antisocial action.

Someone please phone the brain, it seems he's been left out of the loop on this one. It's all too common for people to concentrate on the WHAT and ignore the WHY. If the album reflects a students unhappiness with the school system, then anyone with an ounce of common sense would examine why the student is unhappy and adjust the system for the benefit of all. Expelling this kid is not a cure for the problem, only creates more problems...problems that are probably inconceivable to the the school's fascists..er faculty* If you have a headache, you don't bandage your arm. Another frustrating example of the ridiculous backwards thinking that has become trademark in schools.

Free speech is great, til it pisses someone with more power than you off...

Yes its sad, and it happens all the time. One student got suspended for his hair cut... I think I remember a little about this kinda stuff on Michael Moore's video "Bowling for Columbine".

"Content is one part of the rationale for the action that's being taken," Cerutti said.

What the hell does content have to do with anything? The student is an honor student, and did this at home... The only thing I could see him prosecuted for is selling them during school hours(if he did).

i don't agree with the don't sue the school thair in enuff trubble thing i say if thay wear sued for expeling this kid it would send all school a message that thay can't volate students rights are get away with it and that lesson folks is bye far the most importen lesson a school could ever teach a child are rights should be put at for most importen above all other we as the public shall not be puch around bye those in power any more this is just one more gross example of if you have money you can do any thing you want like emanime would not get baned from performing his songs

neather should a kid that has no money.

,

oops...

It happened in Wisconsin, one of the most uptight white bigot places in the world.

so not fair, its just a song! COME ON PEOPLE!

If people are going to get wicked uptight about lyrics in music maybe they should think about sueing the RIAA for producing vulgar garbage. I'm pretty liberal about things but by producing music that advocates murder, ho's, and drugs especially when they are making capital gains off of it, I would think that they have a huge responsibility to influence our youth in the right way.

Koemoejoe... please take a little more time to spell... I'm not trying to be mean but that was kinda hard to read.

"gross disobedience or misconduct,"

Well atleast they are giving the poor kid an option.

Well, it is kind of sad, but the way things are now, I even fear referring to anything PG violent when I go to highschool. Just within this week a principal called in police with guns blazing due to a kid saying that there MIGHT be guns and drugs being traded. This is a sad thing, but I do have to say, what kind of idiot is this kid?

It's all sad, really and just another example of a student's rights being left at the schoolhouse door. At school these days a student is not allowed his/her 1st Amendment rights, nor are they allowed their 4th Amendment rights. The argument, of course, being that they are minors and can't think for themselves.

Schools look for any and all reasons to suspend students anymore, from kindergarteners kissing their classmates to high school seniors taking part in a protest against the school. It's no wonder the youth of today are getting dumber and dumber. I've only been out of school for five years, but already I can see the change. And it doesn't look like it's gonna end.

Here's to hoping that schools will wise up. If they don't, then I'm home schooling my future kids.

This makes me sad. I can see sitting him down, and haveing a talk with the principal, and clearing the air up a little. I can also agree if they told him he can't distribute his CD on school property anymore, but suspending him. That is just wrong.

I'm not a fan of rap(can't spell crap without rap), or the message it sends out to our young people, but it is an exspresion of free speach. Should negetive comments about the school administration, and students be allowed to be distributed around school, weather it be in the form of music or written on paper? If they are threatning in any way, No.
Should a student be suspended from school for five days, for making a threatning comment, but not acting on it? No. Maybe a chat, and a little warning, but not five days suspention!!

How is keeping kids away from thier education for five days going to solve anything?

suspension without evening listening to the evidence?
police taking the PC?

throw my vote in for Mr Cerutti to get a "review"... or better still, get a stronger principal.

"gross disobediance" ha

I've been to protests with people holding hands and singing and shit, that were labeled as civil disobedience, and layered with tear gas and rubber bullets. Let's not forget that disobedience is doing what someone with more power doesn't want you to do.

You can kiss the Bill of Rights and Constitution goodbye. The indoctrination of our children has already commenced. The thought police will be at your door any minute. Are you ready?

In all seriousness, how could the police justify confiscation of the kid's computer? Probable cause? Where can probable cause even enter into this? I also have a problem with the school suspending him for his expressions. When did that become a crime?

What is this country coming to?

I'm not a regular here, but I wanted to let you all know that I've been following up on Sashwat's situation, and have put together some action items that can be taken on his behalf -- including calling the Superintendent who is about to decide whether to try and expel the kid.

You can find the action items here:
http://www.freedom2008.com/blog/archives/001860.html

And an opinion piece from me, with more background on the kid, here:
http://www.freedom2008.com/blog/archives/001859.html

And a story about how I was suspended for writing and reading a poem, 15 years ago when I was 15:
http://www.freedom2008.com/blog/archives/001858.html

I hope you at least check out the action items. I spoke with the boy's dayd, and the school is pressing for him to get psychological treatment, and insisting that taking his suspension off the record is not an option. Plus, apparently the song about the principal is mostly about how he tends to call the police into the school all the time, over any little thing. So it's a political protest song, rather than a threat.

Hey folks... I'd just like to say thank you all for the support. It's great knowing and being reasurred that I haven't done anything wrong. The school board here at Brookfield Central is bogus and they won't listen to a thing I have to say. So, I'm pretty much deadlocked and gonna have to live with the suspension on my record.

Sashwat Singh