Judge supports district in race case

By PATRICK E. LITOWITZ
plitowitz@ncnewsonline.com

A federal court has dismissed a race discrimination lawsuit against the New Castle Area School District.

In a ruling issued Monday, U.S. District Judge Donetta W. Ambrose granted the district’s request for a summary judgment in its case with former student Joshua Stewart. Ambrose, citing a report prepared in February, ruled Stewart failed to prove that the district expelled him based on his race.

The lawsuit was an offshoot of the drug-related death of Erica Jo Million. The New Castle High sophomore consumed oxycodone Feb. 27, 2007, while in school. The 16-year-old died five days later.

Her death was ruled accidental.

A month later, the school board voted 7-0 to expel Stewart for violating the school’s drug policy in distributing and selling a controlled substance to Million. The board’s decision was later upheld in Lawrence County common pleas court.

Stewart was placed on juvenile probation in April 2008. Common pleas Judge John Hodge said the evidence against the teen supported a juvenile charge of possession with intent to deliver.

Stewart’s attorney, Keenan D. Holmes, argued his client’s punishment was excessive when compared to white students who had committed similar offenses. Attempts to reach Holmes were unsuccessful.

The report, authored by U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert C. Mitchell, said Stewart could not prove the school district’s investigation was biased.

“(New Castle) had evidence that the plaintiff violated its Drug and Alcohol Policy,” Mitchell wrote.

The federal Office for Civil Rights had determined in October 2007 that Stewart “did not provide a sufficient factual basis to support his claim that he was treated differently than (white students).”