By Gloria Romero
(From OC Register, April 16th, 2013)
In, “Les Miserables,” Victor Hugo’s classic novel, a man is sentenced to prison for five years for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his family.
Today, in Montgomery County, Pa., a couple is facing up to seven years imprisonment for “stealing” an education for their child.
As incredible as it seems, is this a modern-day, American “Les Miserables”?
Prosecution and defense lawyers were in court last week in what has become the most-watched education-related trial in the nation. It figures to affect parents across the nation.
Could something similar happen in California?
Hamlet and Olesia Garcia were arrested and charged with “theft of education services” for having enrolled their 5-year-old daughter, Fiorella, in a school outside their approved local education-agency boundary. The Garcias had temporarily separated, with Mrs. Garcia taking the child to live with her and her father in Montgomery County – not far from the Garcias’ Philadelphia-area home. The couple soon reconciled, but decided to keep their child in the Montgomery County school until the end of the term in June so as to not further disrupt her life.
The Pennsylvania Penal Code contains a “theft of services” statute. Legal experts, however, said the statute is intended to prosecute such offenses as stealing cable boxes or utility services.
“I have never seen anything like this,” commented the Garcias’ attorney, Ricardo Corona. “Anybody that would try to bring charges against a father here using the guise of a statute more designed to stop cable piracy would probably be laughed out of court. The statute doesn’t fit.”
Read the full post here.