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Steven H.

Jesser
Attorney at Law, P.C.
2700 Patriot Boulevard
Suite 250
Glenview, IL 60026-8021 USA

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May 12, 2016


Abdul Rahman Amine, MD
Universal School
7350 93rd Street
Bridgeview, IL 604455
Re: Roaa Hussein:
Dear Dr. Amine:
Dr. Khasawinah
I represent sophomore Roaa Hussien. Please refer this letter to your corporate counsel, if any.
The word representation is not be construed in an adversarial manner, even though I have
practiced widely in Bridgeview 5th District Court and in every court and court division
downtown, particularly Chancery, where injunctive relief is granted.. That being said, Roaas
suspension, although served, and her expulsion or simply expulsion are legally invalid and
should be expunged (destroyed by shredding) from her school record(s). How they have been
handled have violated the Illinois School Code. 105 ILCS. The School has violated Illinois law
by not offering Roaa private, required disciplinary proceedings as required by statute, and as
ignored by the School. I wish to, and I am entitled to, attend these sessions, with urgency now
that it is May and Roaas disciplinary record must be rectified now, in that administrators,
instructors, and families are away much of the summer months.
This letter, which I hope will be seriously considered so that injunctive or other Court relief is
not needed, is written by an attorney who is neither liberal nor conservative, whose daughter
attended noted private schools like yours, from junior kindergarten through college, and so I
understand that every adolescent is different, and it is best many times to just leave alone the
student, so that they themselves sort out their mistakes, if given some space. I usually
acknowledge before suspension and expulsion hearings that being a public school teacher,
administrator, or board member are among the most difficult of professions, I would not have
wanted, and I did not have, my daughter photographed in anything but a blouse or dress or
bathing suit, however, this letter for request for hearings or expungement or rescission of all
disciplinary writings is solely concerning Roaa, and her education rights under the Illinois
School Code. I do also respect the high religious values of the School,
1

Dr. Abdul Rahman Amine


Abdullah Khasawinah, PhD
5/3/2016
Roaa served a three-week suspension for a non-criminal momentary everyday action
(photographing herself) when she was miles from campus, and such photograph directed to only
one person, a female classmate who was also many miles away from School when the single
photograph was transmitted to her, and with no intention by Roaa that the one photographic
image be not spread to campus, wherein the photograph was intended by Roaa to check upon her
health, and sent to one friend of the same sex. If the Schools written instruction to her not to
return to school next fall can be characterized as simply that Roaa and the School were just not a
good fit, then that issue can be placed aside, for now, that she was not expelled.
However, if the School intended, and now intends, to characterize the ban as a permanent
expulsion, that presents a serious problem of the Schools many violations of the Illinois School
Code, 105 ILCS Schools 10-22.6. She has not been expelled, because she has not been legally
suspended or expelled. Private schools are subject to the School Code, just as public schools are
subject to the School Code, as you must know.
This letter seeks to explain the single Roaa topless photograph which she texted to one friend of
the same sex, for confirmation of her appearance, as discussed below. However, if Roaa had an
adolescent sister or brother in whom she was able to confide, the school hopefully would not
have intervened into strictly family matters of adolescence attending the same school. From what
I am factually informed, the school has no reasonable grounds or probable cause to invade the
recipients telephone contents, even with the friends consent, which is merely consent given
under duress and fears. To remove personal hygiene items from a young womans purse would
have been indefensible in itself, but to obtain her supposed consent to open her telephone data
is simply akin to forcing a young woman in past generations to open her private and secret diary.
These telephones are not school property, and the entire pedagogy of the school is for students
not to question any authority and not to wear any contemporary clothes or even makeup, which
teenagers know how apply softly and discreetly, not garishly, and not garishly.
As explained above, Roaa emailed the subject photograph while off campus, to a close and
trusted girlfriend, also well off of campus, who she further instructed to lock the photo with a
password -protected source of entry. For a normal adult, this selfie trend is just a fad, in which
he President of the United States has often done, and will come and go like hula-hoops. Roaa
was not using her best judgment to do this and it was risky, but intended to enhance her
confidence in her appearance, a very critical issue for adolescent females and of lesser concern to
many adolescent males. The photograph was not intended in any sexual manner or for
distribution anywhere at or near school. To the contrary, I know from personal experience that
ages 14-16 are ripe ages at which many adolescent girls become anorexic, but refuse to recognize
the disease or to comply with prescriptive medication, which puts them at risk of death, like
singer Carol Carpenter, Many parents fail to observe its symptoms, because it is gradual. Many
students and parents fail to address the ongoing loss of musculature

Dr. Abdul Rahman Amine


Abdullah Khasawinah, PhD
5/3/2016
And hair thinning and skeletal boniness and bony skeletal condition until another disease
intervenes. There can be no doubt that Roaa had a disease of pre-anorexia which School staff and
parents did not recognize. With adult professional intervention, she was able to recognize her
disorder and began to eat well, to build back her weight and strength and purchase over the
counter vitamin supplements. Roaa was inquiring of her friend if she viewed the photograph to
display weight loss, again, a major symptom of anorexia,
.Administration did not recognize this disorder, and punished her instead for a legal removing ofshirt and episodic event bearing no relation to the school. Administration made no attempt to
refer he parents for medical treatment, in that anorexics are in denial. Pre-anorexia, which can be
detected by teachers and/or parents, needs to be addressed as a treatable physical and emotional
disorder, when medicated or otherwise managed.
Re the marijuana buds, a subject of which I know little, even as a former Narcotic Court
prosecutor (dealing with far graver illicit smuggled drugs, in large quantities for distribution), it
was another act of adolescent behavior, in order to look cool and hip to her girlfriend, but with
the same instruction not to disclose it to any third party. However, 50 years ago at my 4,000
student, 6 contingent square block high school, with five minutes to walk 5 city blocks to the
furthest next class, nearly every upperclassman smoked cigarettes off campus at night and/or on
weekends, and many of them claimed to have consumed undiluted hard alcohol from a bottle on
weekends. I can make that statement because I knew most upperclassmen, and have witnessed
(in my public schools, and in the law enforcement early stage of my career) and observed
superior student behavior, and I have witnessed disrespectful, criminal behavior on school
premises. Roaas photograph, never processed into a paper product, was essentially was texted,
far from campus, with no intention that it be shown at campus. It is not even a photograph or
tangible object. It was an amateur photographic image, and photographs taken by students
well off-campus are outside the purview of schools, by implication of the Illinois School Act.
Putting aside the unlawfulness of a search of her friends private telephone by the school, as
discussed below, all she needed was an admonition that this photograph was disappointing and
not compatible with expected School citizenship, and that the photographed buds should be the
last non-prescribed minor or major controlled substance she ever touches, no matter how much
ridicule she incurs from other friends at social functions.
Although five years ago a minority of senior Glenbrook North women secretly hazed a minority
of junior girls each year, on a Sunday in May, about which GBN knew nothing, a secret ritual. It
occurred in a hidden forest preserve in daylight. The corporeal batteries were minor. The
participants used poor judgment and adolescent, potentially dangerous activity. Then, it was
videotaped and sent to CNN. The more active hazers were prosecuted with misdemeanors, but
those prosecutions resulted in not guilty or supervisions (non-convictions) at the Skokie circuit
courthouse, a courthouse with dockets and judges nearly identical to those at the Bridgeview
court house. This event was prosecuted only because of the nonstop worldwide coverage of CNN
that wealthier young women also engage in hazing, which every college graduate already

Abdullah Khasawinah PhD


5/3/2016
knew, that, so GBN felt compelled to take some action. Although I have always considered
hazing and immature improper in any form, GBN had no lawful authority to punish for alleged
Dr. Abdul Rahman Amine
Abdullah Khasawinah, PhD
5/3/2016
conduct many miles away, were at no student event and were at no student property, and with no
IL statutory or case law to support it. The only common fact was that they simply attended the
same high school in the same grade level. Roaas one photographic interaction with a fellow
student was far more innocuous, and at a distant location.
In a new world of privacy now destroyed, how many miles is the School going to go to discipline
a student, especially when most of these were adjudged not guilty in court of law? In a
progressive state as Illinois, patients are finally authorized in prescribed dosages to consume
marijuana, to ameliorate pain, and many judges and prosecutors I have known dislike the amount
of court time required to prosecute trace amounts of marijuana, unless it is of such amount that
indictments (also known as information) are charged for Possession With Intent To Deliver. The
point here is that the seeming expulsion was far too severe punishment for Roaas episodic
photograph in benign clothing, never involving the Universal School. I observed this year far
more provocative female apparel at a party of Cambridge, MA high school students, as well as
open drunkenness by boys thereat. Roaa certainly now understands can be dangerous or fatal.
But for the School forcing her girlfriend to unlock her telephone, the momentary photographic
image, among countless other photograph, would not have caused the School any
embarrassment. What is coming is zero-tolerance school discipline for actions of its students
elsewhere in the State, then elsewhere in the country, then elsewhere in the world, actions by
educators, which are far beyond the purview of their professions and of the Illinois School Code.
More crucial than the above, the following lists the statutory violations by the School, of the IL
School Code, re which we want the served-suspension and the unserved-revocation to be
removed from Roaas disciplinary record because required bodies and required sessions or
hearings were not conducted at all; rather, you have assumed all disciplinary procedures upon
yourself, which makes them void, because that is contrary to legislative intent and promulgation.
They were not conducted at all. Certain colleges and universities, as well as employers, seem to
demand lifetime infallible behavior for matriculation, and that concerns us. In the alternative, we
want her disciplinary record segregated from her academic file, so that only the academic record
is transmitted to inquiring colleges to whom she given consent. Many high school I have
represented employ this bifurcation, and also do so to avoid federal law privacy statutes and
regulations violations.
(105 ILCS 5/10-22.6) (from Ch. 122, par. 10-22.6)
Sec. 10-22.6. Suspension or expulsion of pupils; school searches.

(a) To expel pupils guilty of gross disobedience or misconduct, including gross


disobedience or misconduct perpetuated by electronic means, and no action
shall lie against them for such expulsion.
Roaa did not commit gross disobedience, misconduct, or rule-breaking. She exhibited
momentary, adolescent lack of good judgment, and she did not publish the photographic
image. No one displayed it, and its discovery was by questionable layperson search and
Dr. Abdul Rahman Amine
Abdullah Khasawinah PhD
5/3/2016
seizure. A school owns its student lockers and is bailor of its contents and owns its
computers and it owns its in-house computers and the data housed within, but a school
does not own a students apparel or a students personal property, such as a telephone, or
the data within. To allege that the other girl consented to search of her data in a
telephone which she or her family purchased would not be credible. The School had no
probable cause or this search and no statutory basis for the expulsion,
Expulsion shall take place (1) only after the parents have been requested to appear at a
meeting of the board, (2 ) or with a hearing officer appointed by it, to discuss their child's
behavior. (3) Such request shall be made by registered or certified mail and shall state the
time, place and purpose of the meeting. (4 ) The board, or a hearing officer appointed
by it, at such meeting shall state the reasons for dismissal and the date on which the
expulsion is to become effective. (5) If a hearing officer is appointed by the board he
shall report to the board a written summary of the evidence heard at the meeting and the
board may take such action thereon as it finds appropriate. An expelled pupil may be
immediately transferred to an alternative program in the manner
provided in Article 13A or 13B of this Code. A pupil must not be denied transfer because of the
expulsion, except in cases in which such transfer is deemed to cause a threat to the safety of
students or staff in the alternative program. (Numbers above supplied).
Although Roaa is allowed to finish her sophomore classes, none of the required statutory
steps were undertaken as a result of which, no suspension or expulsion decision can be
made by the Board.
(b) To suspend or by policy to authorize the superintendent of the district or the
principal, assistant principal, or dean of students of any school to suspend
pupils guilty of gross disobedience or misconduct, or to suspend pupils guilty
of gross disobedience or misconduct on the school bus from riding the school
bus, and no action shall lie against them for such suspension. The board may
by policy authorize the superintendent of the district or the principal, assistant
principal, or
(c) Dean of students of any school to suspend pupils guilty of such acts for a
period not to exceed 10 school days. If a pupil is suspended due to gross
disobedience or misconduct on a school bus, the board may suspend the pupil

in excess of 10 school days for safety reasons. Any suspension shall be


reported immediately to the parents or guardian of such pupil along with a full

Dr. Abdul Rahman Amine


Abdullah Dr. Khasawinah, PhD
5/3/2016
statement of the reasons for such suspension and a notice of their right to a
review. The school board must be given a summary of the notice, including
the reason for the suspension and the suspension length. Upon request of the
parents or guardian the school board or a hearing officer appointed by it shall
review such action of the superintendent or principal, assistant principal, or
dean of students. At such review the parents or guardian of the pupil may
appear and discuss the suspension with the board or its hearing officer. If a
hearing officer is appointed by the board he shall report to the board a written
summary of the evidence heard at the meeting. After its hearing or upon
receipt of the written report of its hearing officer, the board may take such
action as it finds appropriate. A pupil who is suspended in excess of 20 school
days may be immediately transferred to an alternative program in the manner
provided in Article 13A or 13B of this Code. A pupil must not be denied
transfer because of the suspension, except in cases in which such transfer is
deemed to cause a threat to the safety of students or staff in the alternative
program.
Roaas Three-week suspension was invalid and must be now voided because it resulted
from no gross disobedience or misconduct, within the School or its proximate environs, and
it did not involve any school bus. No required hearing officer was offered by the School, for
the hearing officer or Board to examine the appropriateness of the suspension. The
suspension, although served, should now be voided because Roaas parents were never
advised or reminded of their right to appeal. The suspension was procedurally infirm and
should therefore be voided.
(c) The Department of Human Services shall be invited to send a representative
to consult with the board at such meeting whenever there is evidence that mental
illness may be the cause for expulsion or suspension.
(d) .. As a matter of public policy, the General Assembly finds that students
have no reasonable expectation of privacy in these places and areas or in their
personal effects left in these places and areas. School authorities may request the
assistance of law enforcement officials for the purpose of conducting inspections
and searches of lockers, desks, parking lots, and other school property and
equipment owned or controlled by the school for illegal drugs, weapons, or other
illegal or dangerous substances or materials, including searches conducted
through the use of specially trained dogs.. ..

The School exceeded its lawful authority when it seized the girlfriends telephone when it
took it by force and/or duress and/or undue influence upon the girlfriend, whose telephone
contained either hundreds or thousands of photographs. The School seriously and
unconstitutionally over-reached when it took the telephone from the girlfriend and
forced her to unlock it, ignoring her rights against unlawful searches and seizures. This will
simply soon lead to the School giving itself access to every activity in which a student or her
family is engaged, whether at home, whether in transit or travelling, whether socializing,
Dr. Abdul Rahman Amine
Abdullah Khasawinah, PhD
5/3/2016
etc., so that its upper and lower classmen are now learning that no aspect of their lives is
immune from photographing and the vast network of outside public cameras now being
extended, so that there will exist no privacy in the home, other places, family gatherings,
etc.
This also violates state and federal constitutional public policy, no matter what your
Student Handbook states concerning the Schools rights. A student without a mobile
telephone may not wish to be photographed or videotaped, yet photographed anyway by
playful companions, seized by educators who arbitrarily and capriciously examine cameras
as non-law enforcement personnel. Neither the federal or state constitutions cloak the
School with quasi-judicial authority to now examine every photograph an acquaintance
may possess. Further, in an age of both terrorism and unpublicized attempted abductions
around schools in affluent neighborhoods, such as Hinsdale and Glencoe, every student
should be equipped with a telephone; it is no longer an option, and some of these recent
attempted abductions required physical force upon the abductors by closely-observant
parents in parking queues with mobile telephones.
For all of the reason set forth above, Roaa urges rescission of her suspension, and the rescission
from her school films of any reference to a suspension or a seeming expulsion. We reserve all
rights to unprejudiced ALMs and hearings which were never held. I request telephone or email
contact from the Schools legal counsel within. If none, I request an immediate meeting with
both. (
(I request an immediate meeting with the board members and telephone or email contact from
the Schools legal counsel within,)
Sincerely.
Steven H. Jesser
Steven H. Jessser, Attorney at Law

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