A 29-year-old special education teacher in Kentucky accused of drunkenly running over a pedestrian while on her way to school last month may face additional charges after authorities confirmed that the 32-year-old man she allegedly struck died from his injuries. Jaime Caldwell, who teaches at Glendover Elementary School, has already been charged with one count of aggravated operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol and one count of leaving the scene of an accident with failure to render aid or assist with death or serious physical injury.

The Fayette County Coroner’s Office confirmed that the victim, Joshua Hampton, died on April 18, two days after he was allegedly struck by Caldwell.

As previously reported, officers with the Lexington Police Department responded to a call at about 6:50 a.m. on Wednesday, April 16, regarding a hit-and-run involving a pedestrian in the 1000 block of Georgetown Road, which is about 75 miles east of Louisville.

Upon arriving at the scene, first responders located the pedestrian and emergency medical personnel transported them to a local hospital for treatment of “life-threatening injuries.”

Police then utilized the department’s “Real-Time Intelligence Center” to quickly locate the vehicle and driver, later identified as Caldwell, involved in the collision. The “intelligence center” allows the department to access public traffic video feeds and footage from private surveillance cameras, with permission, to aid in investigations.

A copy of the arrest citation obtained by Lexington ABC affiliate WTVQ provided additional details about the circumstances of Caldwell’s arrest.

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According to the report, police located Caldwell at Glendover Elementary School, where she is employed as a teacher. Officers at the scene said that Caldwell’s vehicle was in the school parking lot with visible damage.

They also reportedly noted that when they came into contact with Caldwell, her “eyes were bloodshot and watery.” They also said they “smelled alcohol coming from her,” Lexington NBC affiliate WLEX reported.

Speaking with police, Caldwell allegedly admitted that she had been drinking “Bacardi Rum” Tuesday evening and taken prescription drugs for anxiety, depression, and high blood pressure Wednesday morning, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported.

Caldwell also allegedly admitted that while driving to school that morning, “she heard a thud, but did not realize she hit a person,” WLEX reported.

A subsequent breath test revealed that Caldwell had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.278, more than three times the legal limit to drive in the state. She was taken into custody and processed at the Fayette County Detention Center.

Caldwell on Thursday appeared in court via Zoom, where she pleaded not guilty to the aforementioned charges, according to WTVQ. After waiving a formal arraignment hearing, a magistrate judge set a cash-only bond of $25,000. She is currently scheduled to appear in court again on April 29.

Fayette County Public Schools issued a statement to multiple news stations regarding Caldwell’s arrest through district spokesperson Dia Davidson-Smith:

“Fayette County Public Schools is aware of the situation involving Jamie Caldwell. Due to the ongoing investigation and the confidential nature of personnel matters, we are limited in what we can share at this time. However, we can confirm that the employee has been placed on administrative leave. As always, the safety and well-being of our students and staff remain our highest priority.”

The Supreme Court may be headed for a 4-4 split in a case that tests the constitutional legalities of religious charter schools.

The high court heard several hours of oral arguments Wednesday in the case of Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board v. Drummond, and each participating justice, except for Chief Justice John Roberts, gave clear indications of how they will vote in the case.

The school

St. Isidore of Seville — named for an unofficial patron saint of the internet — is a virtual Catholic charter school operating in Oklahoma that was established by the diocese of Tulsa and the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City. Under state law, charter schools must be nonreligious “in their programs, admissions policies, and other operations.” The school projects an initial enrollment of 500 students with the expectation of reaching 1,500 students by 2028, half from lower-income families.

Per the school’s handbook, it provides a “robust Catholic education” to all attendees and is open to both Catholic and non-Catholic students.

In 2023, the charter school board approved St. Isidore’s application for the following school year, but Oklahoma’s Republican attorney general and current gubernatorial candidate, Gentner Drummond, sought and obtained a court order from the Oklahoma Supreme Court directing the board to invalidate its contract with the school. The court reasoned that as a public school, St. Isidore is required to be nonsectarian under Oklahoma’s charter school law, and that the rule comports with both the Oklahoma Constitution and the establishment clause of the U.S. Constitution, both of which prohibit the use of public funds for religious institutions.

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St. Isidore appealed the decision and argues that the school provides a “much-needed opportunity for many Oklahoma children who lack robust educational choices or find traditional schooling difficult due to learning differences.”

The justices face important questions of law

The justices now consider two questions. First, whether the actions of St. Isidore’s, a free, privately-run school, constitute “state action” simply because of its charter school contract. And second, whether the First Amendment’s free exercise clause is violated by Oklahoma’s exclusion of St. Isidore’s from its charter school program.

The ruling has far-reaching potential to affect charter schools across the nation. Further, because it sets up something of a contest between the establishment clause — the section of the Constitution that ensures separation of church and state via a prohibition of government endorsement of a religion — and the free exercise clause — the section that prohibits the government from making laws that impede the free exercise of religion — the consequences threaten to reach even beyond schoolhouse walls.

A split court

During the marathon oral arguments, the Court’s most conservative justices signaled an overt willingness to rule in favor of St. Isidore’s and against Oklahoma. Meanwhile, the Court’s liberal flank predictably pushed back on the legality of permitting government funding for a religious school.

Justice Elena Kagan framed the issue as a court-sanctioned power for a charter school to simply ignore rules with which it disagrees.

“These are state-run institutions,” Kagan said, and argued that allowing this Catholic school to receive a charter despite Oklahoma’s rule against it would amount to giving St. Isidore’s — and by extension, other schools — to simply “strike” portions of state law with which they disagree.

Likewise, Justice Sonia Sotomayor was highly skeptical of the idea of allowing government-funded religious charter schools.

“I think the essence of the establishment clause was, ‘We’re not going to pay religious leaders to teach their religion,”” said Sotomayor to attorney James Campbell for the state’s charter school boards. “Really, what you’re saying is the free exercise clause trumps the establishment clause.”

In colloquy with attorney Campbell, Sotomayor pushed back on the argument that history favors St. Isidore’s position.

“Using history in this case is crazy,” the justice snapped, “because during early history, no one thought there was an obligation of the government to provide funding [for schools] at all.”

“We don’t use the history of segregation to interpret the equal protection clause now,” she continued. “I doubt very much we would use that history of the federal government funding the churches to teach Indian children and convert them as proving anything about the free exercise or establishment clause now.”

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson similarly argued that Oklahoma’s wish was to set up secular private schools, and that it is allowed to do so, despite the fact that St. Isidore’s disagrees.

“So it’s not being denied a benefit that everyone else gets,” said Jackson.

But several times over the course of the proceedings, Justice Brett Kavanaugh signaled that he sees it differently.

“All the religious school is saying is don’t exclude us on account of our religion,” remarked Kavanaugh, who elaborated at length that religious institutions should not be excluded from doing what secular institutions can do.

Justice Neil Gorsuch appeared to be convinced that the charter school is not a government entity, given the lack of supervision by a local school board, thereby circumventing any constitutional issues relevant to government action.

Justice Samuel Alito left little doubt as to where he stands on the case. While questioning Gregory Garre, who argued the case on behalf of Drummond, Alito said that the Oklahoma attorney general’s office was “motivated by hostility toward particular religions.” To underscore his point, Alito pointed to Drummond’s statements that many Oklahomans would support Christian charter schools, but would be less likely to approve similar applications from schools of other faiths.

“We have statement after statement by the attorney general that reeks of hostility toward Islam,” Alito said to Garre.

“That’s entirely incorrect, your Honor,” responded Garre, arguing that Drummond’s statements merely warned of tensions to come if a Catholic charter school was allowed to operate.

Alito also commented on Oklahoma’s “unsavory discriminatory history,” and Garre expressed doubt that Oklahoma’s constitution showcased animus against Catholic immigrants.

Rather, Garre offered, Oklahoma’s separation of church and state was likely motivated by the government’s “Christianization” of Native American children.

Alito, who has often spoken of religion being “under attack,” doubled down and asked, “Do you think that anti-Catholic bigotry had disappeared from Oklahoma by 1907?”

With Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a Trump appointee, recused from the case, due to a friendship with a professor who advised St. Isidore, the outcome could come down to Chief Justice John Roberts, who did not show his hand clearly. He said early in the arguments that the Supreme Court’s previous rulings dealt with a less significant mixture between state governments and schools than the current Oklahoma cases involve. Should the Supreme Court split 4-4, it means the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s ruling against St. Isidore’s would stand, and for the immediate future, religious charter schools would be disallowed.

The Federal Circuit, located in Washington, D.C., has exclusive nationwide jurisdiction over a variety of subject areas, as well as a statutory requirement to provide citizens with reasonable opportunities to appear before the court. This creates a unique opportunity to hold oral arguments outside of D.C., including most recently in the San Francisco Bay Area and in Boston later this fall.

“The court believes that by engaging with the public through this program it can promote transparency and increase public trust and confidence in the Federal Circuit and the Judiciary,” Moore said.

Federal courts of appeals across the country regularly conduct special sittings at law schools to provide law students with real-life exposure to a sitting panel of judges, lawyers presenting oral arguments, and the briefing in real cases. A question-and-answer session often follows oral arguments as law students are able to gain valuable insights into career paths in the justice system.

A mother in Indiana has been accused of bringing a gun to a school where her daughter used to be enrolled as a sixth grader in an attempt to confront a teacher over the educator’s curriculum.

“Your a child predator [SIC],” wrote Carrie Rivers, 48, in an alleged Facebook message to the teacher after her arrest last week, according to local NBC affiliate WTHR.

The Indianapolis mother allegedly told police that the educator gave her daughter an assignment that she didn’t approve of, which covered same-sex relationships and marriages. The teacher said it was actually an assignment about flags, and that a rainbow LGBTQ flag was brought into class with the words “be kind” on it, along with several flags from other countries.

A Florida judge ruled in favor of a school district that prevented a mom who modeled for the adult website OnlyFans from volunteering at her kids’ elementary school after it learned what she did for a living.

Victoria Triece sued Orange County Public Schools for $1 million in 2023 after the school district said she would no longer volunteer Sand Lake Elementary School because of her occupation. The principal received an anonymous email in 2021 from a “concerned parent” along with two explicit photos of Triece.

“It has come to several parents at Sand Lake Elementary that one of the room mothers that spends time at the school is publically (sic) posting pornography thru various sources on the internet. This woman is constantly around our children and her public profiles are well known. This is the not the content or subject matter that our children need to be exposed to,” the email read.

The school’s principal, Kathleen Phillips, alerted her boss. Ultimately, the school said she could no longer volunteer. Triece sued, arguing that she was robbed of her due process and privacy rights.

After filing the lawsuit, Triece spoke to the media at attorney Mark NeJame’s office, saying she felt “humiliated.”

“Nobody has the right to judge what other people do for a living. I feel judged, and so isolated,” she said, according to Orlando NBC affiliate WESH.

But Orange County Circuit Judge Brian S. Sandor wrote in a 22-page opinion filed Jan. 29 that Triece does not have a “substantive due process right” to volunteer in the program. Sandor also noted that Triece never appealed the decision with the school district itself. There’s nothing in the district’s policy that says parents have a right to volunteer, the judge argued.

“That policy … does not include any language that confers any right or benefit upon an individual to participate in the program, to remain in the program, or to appeal a removal decision. On these points, the policy is silent,” Sandor wrote.

Triece also stated in her suit that the sexually explicit images attached to the email were distributed among staff within the school and district. The images also were disseminated to media organizations who filed public records requests. The images were public record, according to Sandor.

“Finding that the images are public records that are subject to public disclosure, the Court also finds that on the record presented, Plaintiff cannot prevail on her claim that OCPS invaded her right to privacy by disclosing the images within OCPS, to those OCPS employees who needed the information to respond to public records requests,” Sandor wrote.

Sandor granted the school district’s motion for summary judgement on all accounts.

NeJame did not respond to a request for comment from local CBS affiliate WKMG.

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U.S. Supreme Court

Supreme Court will decide whether Oklahoma can fund Catholic charter school

By Debra Cassens Weiss

January 27, 2025, 10:16 am CST

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to decide whether the First Amendment allows Oklahoma to fund a Catholic online school as part of its charter school program.

At issue is whether funding the school violates the establishment clause and whether excluding the school from the program violates the free exercise clause, according to cert petitions here and here in the two consolidated cases.

The “blockbuster” cases could “redraw the line between church and state by allowing government to establish and directly fund religious schools for the first time,” the Washington Post reports.

The cert grant follows a 2022 Supreme Court decision holding that Maine could not exclude religious schools from a publicly funded tuition assistance program.

Other publications covering the cert grant include SCOTUSblog, CNN, Law360, Reuters and the New York Times. How Appealing links to additional coverage.

The school, formed by the Oklahoma archdioceses of Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Oklahoma, would include religious teachings in its lessons. The state’s virtual charter school board approved the school in June 2023.

The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled in June 2024 that funding the school violated the First Amendment’s establishment clause, the Oklahoma Constitution and a state law governing charter schools. The decision said government control over the school made it a state actor.

The ruling was a win for Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who had opposed funding the school. Other Republican office holders had supported the school, however.

Justin Driver, a professor at Yale Law School, told the New York Times that a Supreme Court decision that allows funding “would represent nothing less than a sea change in constitutional law.”

“It is difficult to overstate the significance of this opinion for our constitutional order and the larger American society,” Driver said.

The cases are Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board v. Drummond and St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School v. Drummond. The case pages are here and here.

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Bar Exam

Teen who enrolled in law school at age 13 becomes youngest person to pass California bar exam

By Debra Cassens Weiss

November 19, 2024, 8:51 am CST

A 17-year-old girl has beaten her brother’s record to become the youngest person to pass the California bar exam.

Sophia Park passed the California bar Nov. 8 when she was 17 years and 8 months old, report YourCentralValley.com, the Sun-Gazette, the Visalia Times Delta, KMPH, ABC News and a Nov. 13 press release.

Park’s brother Peter Park was 17 years and 11 months old when he became the youngest person to pass the California bar in November 2023. Park will join her brother working for the Tulare County district attorney’s office in California.

“I don’t think it was extremely difficult,” Park said of the bar exam in an interview, according to YourCentralValley.com. “But I do think there was difficulty in how much you had to put into your brain in a limited period of time.”

Park graduated from the Northwestern California University School of Law in 2024. The school offers online instruction and is accredited by the State Bar of California, according to its website.

Park first considered a legal career after a sixth grade career survey said she should consider the profession.

Park started law school at age 13 in 2020 while she was in junior high school. During her freshman year of high school, she concluded that her work there was taking up a lot of her time, so she took and passed the California High School Proficiency Exam.

Park worked as a summer intern at the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office at age 16 and has been working as a law clerk in the Tulare County district attorney’s office. She will begin work as a prosecutor after she is sworn in as a licensed attorney in March 2025 upon turning 18, according to the press release.

“I wanted to work for the prosecution,” Park told the Sun-Gazette, “because I like the idea that I get to represent the people of the state of California, keep our community safe and make sure that justice is served.”

Park’s record may be surpassed by her younger sister, who is 14 years old and in her second year of law school, Park told KMPH. Her younger brother, who is 8 years old, also wants to be a lawyer; he dressed as one for Halloween.

Leah Wilson, the State Bar of California’s executive director, told ABC News that passing the bar is a “remarkable achievement” that follows Peter Park’s similar success last year.

“Passing the state bar exam at any age is a tremendous accomplishment, and to do so at 17 is truly exceptional,” Wilson said.