CBS Evening News open - 1999-05-24

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:02] Two major decisions today from the US

[0:04] Supreme Court. Schools can be sued if

[0:07] they fail to stop one student from

[0:10] sexually harassing another. And police

[0:12] can no longer take the media into a

[0:15] person's home to witness a search or

[0:17] arrest without the person's permission.

[0:20] Plus, secrets on how to live longer.

[0:22] This man is in his 90s and still has

[0:24] plenty of fight.

[0:28] This is the CBS Evening News.

[0:32] With Dan Rather reporting from CBS News

[0:35] headquarters in New York.

[0:37] Good evening. The US Supreme Court

[0:39] redrew the lines today of unacceptable

[0:41] and unlawful conduct in public schools

[0:44] nationwide and sharpened the lines of

[0:47] responsibility for it. The Supreme Court

[0:50] said school districts may be sued for

[0:52] sexual harassment by students against

[0:55] students. CBS's Jim Stewart has more

[0:57] about this important ruling and its

[0:59] impact.

[1:02] In a decision that will be felt on every

[1:04] playground and campus of the country,

[1:06] the Supreme Court narrowly ruled today

[1:08] that educators who failed to stop one

[1:10] student from sexually harassing another

[1:12] can be sued and held financially liable.

[1:15] The court did, however, set high

[1:17] standards for such a claim. First, the

[1:19] harassment must be severe and pervasive

[1:22] and authorities have to know about it

[1:23] and still act deliberately indifferent.

[1:26] But even that wasn't enough for Justice

[1:27] Anthony Kennedy who dissented and wrote,

[1:30] "We can be assured now that like suits

[1:31] will follow, suits which will impose

[1:33] serious financial burdens on schools."

[1:36] The case in question was brought by the

[1:38] family of Lashonda Davis while she was a

[1:40] fifth grader in this Forsyth, Georgia

[1:42] school. Lashonda's mother said a

[1:44] classmate repeatedly groped her daughter

[1:46] and the school ignored their complaints.

[1:48] First day she got home from school, she

[1:50] said, "Guess what, Mama?" She said he

[1:52] did it again today.

[1:54] And I said, "Well, did you tell the

[1:55] teacher?" She said, "Yes, ma'am." Mrs.

[1:57] Davis sued and the facts in her case

[1:59] proved easy to document. But school

[2:01] board officials warned today that

[2:02] drawing the line between children's

[2:04] playground taunts and illegal harassment

[2:06] in other cases won't be so easy. It's

[2:09] still difficult to define sexual

[2:12] harassment and we don't have a clear

[2:13] definition of sexual harassment from the

[2:15] Supreme Court or really any other court.

[2:18] And there's another problem this

[2:19] decision doesn't address. Just how far

[2:22] up the chain do you have to complain? Is

[2:24] it enough to tell a teacher or do you

[2:25] have to go all the way to the Board of

[2:27] Education? A case asking that very

[2:29] question is already on its way here. Jim

[2:32] Stewart, CBS News, the Supreme Court.

[2:35] There was another major Supreme Court

[2:37] ruling today, this one unanimous, and it

[2:39] will change the way the police and the

[2:41] press do business. CBS's Sandra Hughes

[2:43] reports on a decision that's designed to

[2:45] give new protection to the right of

[2:47] privacy.

[2:51] It's become a staple of television,

[2:53] especially reality-based shows.

[2:56] But today the Supreme Court ruled that

[2:58] when media ride along with police and

[3:01] enter a home without permission, the

[3:03] reality is an invasion of privacy. From

[3:06] today forward, uh it would be the height

[3:08] of folly for any media organization to

[3:11] participate in a ride-along orchestrated

[3:14] by a law enforcement entity. The Supreme

[3:16] Court looked at two cases where law

[3:18] enforcement agencies took journalists

[3:20] along during the execution of search

[3:22] warrants. Media lawyers had argued that

[3:24] reporters provide a public service by

[3:26] documenting police work.

[3:30] Try telling that to the parents of

[3:31] Michael Merrick who died of a heroin

[3:33] overdose. They saw his body on the

[3:35] reality show LAPD Life on the Beat, even

[3:38] though they asked that the segment not

[3:40] be aired. They've been hoping for

[3:42] today's decision. We've been working for

[3:44] that as a lot of people have, hoping

[3:46] that the Supreme