Child Charged With Disorderly Conduct for Misbehavior at School

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Texas. My child gets a DO citation at middle school by the SRO officer. A coach said they heard my child say a cuss word and turned it in to the SRO officer. The coach and a friend of my child was the only ones around. So is it disorderly/breach of peace because the coach was offended? If other students would testify that the same coach has used the exact same word(s**t) before then it could'nt be offensive to them correct? thx

What is the exact statute charged?

jk its Texas Penal Code-section 42.01.a-1

There are behaviors that are acceptable in one group of people that are not acceptable in another. For example, your boss can refuse to allow you to leave early and then leave early himself.

Even more so are behaviors that are acceptable, or more acceptable, in adults than in children.

So no, the fact that you can produce witnesses to the coach using the same word does NOT mean that he is not offended by having it applied to him by a child.

What do you think the angle will be with the prosecution? Is proving she said it enough or do they have to prove intention or causing a breach of peace? If there is a witness statement that says there was a breach of peace from the original report, do they have to prove that and call the witness? If the child did not see anyone there before the word was said and said it to herself (is that not knowingly or without intention)? This child will be representing herself in court....jury trial.

This is the section that most appears to fit

(1) uses abusive, indecent, profane, or vulgar language in a public place, and the language by its very utterance tends to incite an immediate breach of the peace;

but unless there was an immediate breach of the peace (essentially a physical altercation) that section does not apply.


And while the coach using the same language would not remove the possibility of applying the charge in general, it would go to an argument that the coach does not define the term use as
Abusive, profane, vulgar, or indecent. If no other person heard it other than the coach, one would be hard pressed making an argument the term used, in the company it was used, fits the description under the law.

In other words, language used in a seedy bar while not considered any of the terms described, if one used the same language in front of a church choir, it would fit most of the terms described.

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Quoting twobit

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This child will be representing herself in court....jury trial.

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If this child is a minor, then no, they will not be representing themselves in any court.

Really? So we have to show up with an attorney?

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Quoting twobit

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Really? So we have to show up with an attorney?

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btw, the section of code I posted is exactly what you stated is what is being charged. I missed your a1 originally and reviewed the entire statute which is why I posted as I did. If there was no immediate breach of the peace, I just do not see the charge as valid.

how old is the child? Generally, any minor is not going to be able to be tried for a crime without a lawyer representing them. Often times a minor is automatically assigned a guardian ad litem to ensure their rights are protected. I do not know how Texas deals with this specifically.

that doesn't mean you have to show up with an attorney but I would not enter a plea other than not guilty without the advice of an attorney.

the problem I see is that the penalty does not include the possibility of incarceration:

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Sec. 12.23. CLASS C MISDEMEANOR. An individual adjudged guilty of a Class C misdemeanor shall be punished by a fine not to exceed $500.

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which precludes the assignment of a public defender in some states. I do not know how Texas treats the issue though.

What I would suggest is when going to court, she pleads not guilty and requests a public defender. The courts are going to tell you if a PD is not possible due to the lack of threat of incarceration. Otherwise they are going to interview her and her family to determine if she qualifies for a PD.

Is anyone else a little stupified that (a) the SRO really pushed a SINGLE dirty word into a criminal charge, or (b) that the prosecutor felt that this was worth the time and resources? It's not as if even a Texas judge would incarcerate a middle schooler for vulgar language, even if incarceration were on the table, which it isn't. I'm thinking it's more reasonable to be talking about calling the parents to pick the kid up and suspend them for a day or two - and I'm shocked that things have progressed to stages where courts and GALs and public defenders are all awhiz over this. If I were a taxpayer in that community, I'd have someone's ass in a sling and an SRO program under re-evaluation. (And honestly, even if found guilty, how many middle-schoolers do you know that have any ability to pay a $500 fine, even over time.)

yes, it does sound extreme so to me, that means one of a couple things:

as you state, somebody has gone wild with power and needs to be reeled in or;


the situation is not complete as posted.


I chose to ignore both possibilities and simply addressed the situation as presented.

If you would like to see copies of the charge, and details of this situation, please email me at cj75013@gmail.com. I promise there is not something else. The child is an A/B student taking honors classes. This occured after school in an empty hall. My child said "oh s**t 3 times as her bus left the school. The teacher was heard by the witness say "that kid is so done" and only the teacher and the one student heard the comment. The SRO officer wrote the ticket based on the teachers statement. The principal of the school told me this should have never been written up and will testify to that. Now it is out of the schools hands and the officer's boss said "regardless of if the witness drops the statement, this is prosecuted by the "society of the victim". I am concerned she will not be allowed to represent herself in court (though the court said she could). It is a jury trial this week. we will likely go to the media with this. Thoughts? I have contacted some senators that are trying to pass a bill to prevent this stupidity. if there are any pro bono lawyers that agree and want to help a 14 year old, please contact me.

But yep that is just ridiculous to charge a young person with such an offense..

nobody said it was anything other than what you said it was. anteater was saying that this is an extreme reaction to a minor problem and those involved with continuing this should be subject to scrutiny. I suggested another possibility which is often the case when people post but did not make any statement that it was necessarily either.

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I am concerned she will not be allowed to represent herself in court (though the court said she could).

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that is one statement I do doubt. A minor is considered to be under an incapacity due to their age. That usually precludes a minor from representing themselves. It would also not be a good idea for your daughter to represent herself, even if allowed. This is a criminal issue and should be given all due respect for the seriousness of the charges. She really doesn't want a criminal record, especially starting at this age.

whoops!! 14? No, she is not going to represent herself in a criminal court. No way, no how. It just isn't going to be allowed or happen.

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Quoting itisup2us

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TEX CR. CODE ANN. § 38.17 : TWO WITNESSES REQUIRED

In all cases where, by law, two witnesses, or one with corroborating circumstances, are required to authorize a conviction,
if the requirement be not fulfilled, the court shall instruct the jury to render a verdict of acquittal, and they are bound by the instruction.

Mums the word.....

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I did not investigate if that was even applicable but if it is, there are two witnesses; the coach and the friend

Can the argument be made that there was no breach of peace? The other teen will testify there was no breach of peace. I promise the court administrator said she could represent herself. If this was a real case I would get a lawyer. I had no idea it would cost me 2K. I would have done what most parents do, plead no contest and send her to an anger mgt class. The problem I have is that teaches my kid that someone can accuse you of something ridiculous and it is better to walk away than stand up for your rights. Can the parent represent? Surely they will not force me to get a lawyer to prove she is innocent. Again, just saying that word should not be a crime. It has to be causing a breach of peace and she did not knowingly or with intention do this. She was saying it to herself. The justice system makes it so much easier to admit to no contest and pay a minor fine, than fight for your rights.

Not to make light of this foolishness, however, I can here the questioning now. So Mr Teacher, have you ever used this term before? So you have!!! You do of course realize your prior usage renders moot your claim of being offended. Moving on Mr Teacher, did the defendant use the word as a noun, a verb or in a slang manner?

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If this was a real case I would get a lawyer.

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so this is all contrived? a farce?



If I am misunderstanding that statement, then understand;

this is a real case with a real criminal charge with consequences attached to it.

Ok, well I knew I would get that response. Should not have said that. Yes it is a real case. However, what would you do if you were not a lawyer? Would you let your child plead no contest? Would you say not guilty? Do you personally believe a crime happened? If not, would you pay 2K to prove a point or take your chance with a jury that has common sense (at least I believe they will have common sense)? Would you go to the media?

If it was my child, I would advise them to plead not guilty and tell her story to every news agency in town. I would also hire her a lawyer.

I'm not a lawyer . Takee not of my signature line at the bottom of every one of my posts. I would not let my child plead no contest unless it was part of a deferred adjudication and it was the best case scenario given all of the facts. If such a disposition was not offered, I, personally, would prefer my child fight this with everything I could bring forth. I do not believe the action meets the requirements of the charges but even if it did, I believe the actions of the state to be of such excess that it is a perversion of the system to even consider prosecuting a 14 year old child for the actions described. If what she did was criminal, then they need to start manning up the courts because what she said is said by so many people every single day the courts would not be able to process all the cases that would result from such charges.



Based on what you have said, no I do not believe a crime has taken place. As I stated previously, it requires the utterance to be both vulgar, obscene, profane, or indecent and that it by speaking it, it tended to incite an immediate breach of peace.





My first argument of the term not being vulgar, obscene, profane, or indecent is difficult to make if the state uses societal norms rather than the perception of whomever heard the utterance. Based on societal norms, as a court typically views them, it is a vulgar term although I, personally, argue against that because it is a common term in wide use by a large percentage of the populace and as such, while it is distasteful, no longer meets the definition required to meet the charge. Outside of that, the other argument that the term did not meet the description would be that the only people that heard it were the coach and the friend. Since the coach uses the term, either he continually breaks the law or he does not see the term as meeting the requirements of the law.

the second argument and most likely a defense put forth by her legal representative would be that the utterance does not meet the second part of the requirements of the law because there was no immediate breach of the peace due to the statement. If there was no commotion caused by the utterance, it just does not meet the requirements of the statute charged.

Along that same line, if the state should want to argue it is not that it caused a breach of the peace but in circumstances in general it would incite an immediate breach of the peace, well, my defense would be to walk everybody out onto the street and say sh** a couple times making sure people heard me. If there was no commotion due to the statement, it does not meet even their claim.

Given society today, not only do I believe I could say it without causing a disturbance of any kind, I could print it on a shirt and wear it down the street causing no reaction other than looks of disgust.


as to what the friend would testify to;

they need to understand they must testify to the facts as they know them. They would be asked a question and expected to make a response to that question. It isn't a matter of testifying to whether there was a breach of peace or not but simply to answer the questions asked.

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Quoting twobit

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If not, would you pay 2K to prove a point or take your chance with a jury that has common sense (at least I believe they will have common sense)? Would you go to the media?

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I know exactly what you mean, either way they win, while $2k or so might not sound like a lot to some, it's more than I have to spend paying a lawyer and more than likely get the charges dropped or attempt to represent yourself and try to overcome the presumption of guilt that arises without a lawyer.

The thing is....you are not a lawyer. You may create more damage than reducing it, which that $2K lawyer would do.

Let's put it this way....your child needs an appendectomy. Would you do it yourself? Of course not.....

Talk to a few other lawyers. You might find one who has children, time and social conscious.

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Quoting jk

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As I stated previously, it requires the utterance to be both vulgar, obscene, profane, or indecent and that it by speaking it, it tended to incite an immediate breach of peace.

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What about the 1st Amendment precept of Freedom of Speech, so it takes an act of Congress, no pun intended, by Constitutionally established requirements for the People to place restraints on Government and Government can simply "interpret" the rights and protections of the people away without going to the same Constitutional process of altering them. This is not to say that the School system cannot impose its own standard of conduct for students, faculty and visitors to observe while on School property, but offensive language is a reason to be asked to leave the property but not subject someone to criminal prosecution for a word misspoken.

the 1st does not give an absolute right to spiel off anything without limit. The courts have consistently upheld the use of "fighting words" as not being protected speech. I believe that is the basis of the statute but of course, there was no incitement involved so I do not see it as being a valid charge in this case.

Thanks everyone for all the insight. I have so much more info to help my 14 year old with her defense. I will let you know what happens....the next few days should be interesting!

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*Update* Good news!
We had a friend who was a lawyer call the prosecutor and convinced him to drop the case. Principal of the school just had to say that the offense should have been handled in the school rather than through the court system. I will say that Texas senators are looking at ways to pass laws against this. This organization was helpful. www.texasappleseed.net

Thanks for everyone's help!