Parents Facing Jail Time for Cheering at Graduation
Four people are facing jail time for cheering at a high school graduation, according to WREG News in Memphis.
A crowd attending a graduation at Senatobia High School in Mississippi was asked to hold their applause until the end of the graduation ceremony, but some parents were so excited they disregarded the request or forgot.
One high school parent, Henry Walker, says he yelled, “You did it, baby,” and waved a towel when his daughter Lanarcia Walker walked across the stage. He was then escorted out of the graduation by security.
Another parent, Ursula Miller, was also escorted out for cheering her daughter’s name when she went on stage to receive her diploma.
Two weeks later, Walker, Miller, and two others were served papers stating that a warrant had been issued for their arrest, with bond set at $500. Jay Foster, the Senatobia Superintendent of Schools who can be reached here by email, says that he filed “disturbing the peace” charges against all four.
Superintendent Jay Foster
Walker spoke to WREG News in Memphis about the warrant, saying:
“It’s crazy. The fact that I might have to bond out of jail, pay court costs, or a $500 fine for expressing my love, it’s ridiculous, man. It’s ridiculous.”
Miller echoed the same sentiment, saying:
“Okay, I can understand they can escort me out of the graduation, but to say they going to put me in jail for it… What else are they allowed to do?”
