3/15/2004

Saguaro high school demonstrates its policy of zero tolerance for Black students with sideways baseball caps: Morgan was suspended from school for three days, beginning Monday when Saguaro returns from spring break. Though he was held in a jail cell at police headquarters for several hours, he wasn't charged. He was held on suspicion of disorderly conduct, failure to obey a police officer, trespassing and interfering or disrupting an educational institution. School officials and police defended their actions. Scottsdale police Detective Sam Bailey said Officer Brian Zeller, who is assigned to the school, knows the teen and didn't want to arrest him. "From what I gather, he's a pretty good kid," Bailey said. But the officer was worried the situation could escalate because other students were starting to gather. Morgan was having lunch when Saguaro security guards approached him about his hat. It is against school policy to wear hats sideways because it can be a sign of disrespect for authority, the police report said, but Morgan said that the rule is enforced selectively. According to a police report, he pointed to several White students whose hats were on sideways. "Usually I don't have a problem, (but) when you walk around you see everyone else with their hats like that. I just kind of got fed up with it," he told The Arizona Republic.

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