Judge lets student’s punishment for alcohol violation stand

By JOHN STEVENSON

A 17-year-old senior at the N.C. School of Science & Mathematics failed Monday to win a court order that would have allowed him to play interscholastic soccer despite an alcohol violation.

The student, Seth Daniel Goldstein, was barred from athletic and academic competitions earlier this year after the school validated an unspecified alcohol offense against him.

But Goldstein complained in a lawsuit, filed this month in Durham County Superior Court, that the school's "harsh and retributive" action might prevent him from winning a college soccer scholarship.

Worse, he said, the punishment might keep him from getting into a top-notch college at all.

In response to the lawsuit, Judge A. Leon Stanback issued an immediate restraining order that temporarily allowed Goldstein to remain on the 1999 soccer team. But the order, signed on Sept. 3, was good for only 10 days.

On Monday, Stanback was not so receptive to the student's dilemma.

"At best, it is speculative as to whether or not he would receive a [college] scholarship to play soccer," the judge said in declining to grant an injunction for Goldstein.

Stanback added that he foresaw no "irreparable injury" to Goldstein if the injunction was not issued.

"It seems like this young man is an outstanding student," said Stanback. "He shouldn't have any problems getting in [to college] anywhere. ... The school can always reconsider if it wants to. But the court doesn't want to get in the position of interfering with the disciplinary policies of the School of Science & Math."

Goldstein's lawyer, Reagan Weaver, had no comment after Stanback announced his decision.

Assistant Attorney General Celia Lata, representing the School of Science & Math, characterized the judge's ruling as "right and fair."

Before Stanback issued the ruling, Lata argued that Goldstein had a "nonexistent legal basis" to even ask for a court injunction.

And if an injunction was granted, it would put Stanback in the position of "super executive director of the School of Science & Math," she said.

But the state Supreme Court has ruled that schools must have a free hand to enforce reasonable regulations, Lata added. "The courts must not interfere," she said.

Lata also said an injunction in favor of Goldstein would "work great harm on the public interest" and on the ability of the school to guard the safety of its students. Also, it would set a bad example for other students, Lata said.

Goldstein's lawsuit said that ' during a disciplinary hearing in March, school officials validated charges that he committed an alcohol offense and failed to tell the truth about it.

But the suit said Goldstein was not allowed to have an attorney at the disciplinary hearing and was not permitted to cross-examine witnesses. Evidence against Goldstein was "largely circumstantial," the suit added.

And when Goldstein mounted an appeal, the executive director of the School of Science & Math did not respond for seven weeks - even though the school promises its students to answer such appeals within five business days, according to the suit.

As it turned out, Goldstein's appeal was rejected.

The lawsuit said there is no provision in the school's handbook stating that a student may be prohibited from participating in athletics as a sanction for violating school rules.

The suit also said Goldstein had been elected co-captain of the school's soccer team this season.

Included with the suit was an affidavit from Michael Beer, Goldstein's last coach, saying Goldstein is capable of playing Division I college soccer.

Beer added, however, "if Seth does not play soccer this year with NCSSM, in my opinion, he will lose any chance of getting a first-year scholarship to college based on his soccer-playing ability."

But Sandy Rothschild, legal counsel at the School of Science & Math, told The Herald-Sun last week that "the school takes seriously its obligation to uphold the federal and state laws regarding alcohol use by minors."

Rothschild added that alcohol violations are the most serious offenses against the school's code of conduct. She said incoming students are required to sign a statement indicating they understand they could be expelled for drinking or having alcohol in their possession.

The Goldstein case does not mark the first time the School of Science & Math has been sued over the it penalized students for alcohol violations.

In 1996, two black students sued, alleging they were victims of racial discrimination when the school expelled them for having beer in their room.

The School of Science & Math later rescinded the expulsions and placed the youths on probation as part of a settlement of the lawsuit.