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.”

A 29-year-old special education teacher in Kentucky was arrested this week after she allegedly got drunk before driving to school, hitting and critically injuring a pedestrian on the way.

Jamie Caldwell was taken into custody at the school on Wednesday morning and 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, authorities announced.

According to a news release from the Lexington Police Department, officers at about 6:50 a.m. on Wednesday responded to a call 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.

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.

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.

An elementary school principal and third grade teacher in Florida are facing criminal charges for throwing a “white lie party” where more than 100 kids age 13 to 17 — including one that got a DUI — were caught drinking alcohol and wearing T-shirts with a “white lie” written on them, according to police.

Elizabeth Hill-Brodigan, a former teacher of the year and current principal of Roosevelt Elementary School, was arrested and charged as the owner of the home where the house party was allegedly held in Cocoa Beach. Karly Anderson, the third grade teacher, was allegedly at the party and drinking along with the youths, with the Cocoa Beach Police Department reporting her as being intoxicated.

“It’s absolutely inappropriate just on its face, and it’s even more inappropriate considering these people’s standing in the community,” Detective Sgt. Taylor Payne told local Fox affiliate WFOL.

Educators and students preparing to begin a new semester can make good use of lessons about leadership and purposeful service that can be gleaned from the beautiful life of former President James Earl “Jimmy” Carter. That is especially so for law school communities for at least two reasons.

First, although lawyers are a tiny fraction of the population (0.4% nationally according to the ABA, four for every 1,000 people), they have always achieved a disproportionately large presence in public and private sector leadership roles. Accordingly, U.S. law schools are focusing on how best to prepare students for leadership roles. Carter’s life is a rich case study of the virtues of civility, collaboration and cooperation that the ABA has identified as hallmarks of professionalism.

Second, with the privileges of our honorable profession come public responsibilities. We can use our knowledge and skills to do well, but we a requirement of our law licenses is to strive to do good, as well, through pro bono work and other selfless service. Carter’s relentless determination to make the world better for others is a shining beacon for aspiring lawyers to follow.

Amid a constant barrage of disturbing news, even the gloomiest short days and long dark nights of this new year are brightened by remembering Carter.

Understandably and appropriately, people everywhere are discussing the lessons of Carter’s life. He deserves recognition for being a good and decent man committed to unwavering public service to his country and people all over the world. Perhaps he will be remembered most and longest for what he taught us about how to work and live.

In retrospect, the restless striving that helped clear his improbable untrod path—from the farmland of a small town in Georgia to commanding a nuclear submarine, from the statehouse in Georgia as a contrarian anti-segregation governor to the White House, followed by four decades as the most stubbornly impactful humanitarian on the planet—was driven by hard work, perseverance in the face of setbacks, strength of character, and virtue grounded in the universal code of conduct that he drew from his faith. These are qualities that serve any law student and lawyer well.

Historians, in my opinion, are likely to agree with former first lady Rosalynn Carter, who chaffed when people described her husband as the greatest former president. She often would correct them by pointing out that he was an excellent president, as well. Actually, we got two terms of work out of Carter during his single term.

A few days after he was sworn in, Carter moved to heal old wounds. He granted complete amnesty to Vietnam draft evaders, and his daughter Amy began fourth grade in a historic Black public elementary school a few blocks from the White House. He successfully pursued the Camp David peace accords between Israel and Egypt (which stand to this day), the Panama Canal treaties and the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty II.

Working with Congress, he established the Department of Energy and the Department of Education, sought and signed legislation limiting strip mining, and created the vast Arctic Refuge while doubling the land dedicated to national parks and wildlife preserves. Carter wrestled with “stagflation;” energy crises; the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor disaster; the Nicaraguan revolution; the end of détente and the renewed Cold War over the Soviets invasion of Afghanistan, which precipitated embargoes and the boycott of the 1980 summer Olympics in Moscow; and, of course, the Iranian hostage crises and disastrous failed rescue attempt.

On Jan. 20, 1977, during Carter’s inauguration, my wife, Marla, and I somehow wormed our way into the front row of the enormous crowd lining the Pennsylvania Avenue parade route. Unabated patriotism and pride from the recent bicentennial observances bolstered the collective sense of relief and expectation for Carter’s presidency in those post-Watergate days, when the country also was still pained by the fractures of the Cold War, the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War.

Suddenly, the new president’s long black bullet-proof limousine stopped right in front of us. Carter and his beloved, Rosalynn, got out and a started walking hand in hand toward the White House. He flashed his signature toothy grin and waved, and the crowd roared its delighted approval. Every single person among the thousands there felt as if Carter was waving and smiling at each of them. Now, an inaugural stroll has become an obligatory (and carefully orchestrated) ritual, like routinely recognizing special guests in the balcony seats at the State of the Union speech. In 1977, it was a spontaneous joyful brave gesture.

Carter was then, and always, an American original, an uncommon man with an innate genuine common touch. A teacher.

After Carter lost the 1980 presidential election in a landslide to former President Ronald Reagan, the Carters devoted themselves energetically to a life of service to others, including work in communities building housing for less-advantaged Americans; humanitarian and social good works at home and abroad, such as monitoring elections; and advocating for environmental protection, peace and world health causes. He even is credited with eradicating a 3-foot-long Guinea worm parasite that each year preyed on millions of people in Africa and Asia.

The Carters remained true to their humble mission, even as accolades like the Nobel Peace Prize piled up, along with unusual honors, such as having a naval ship and a fish species named after Carter. Throughout it all, he taught Sunday school deep into his 90s. Practicing what he preached, he leveraged his fame not for profit but to advocate human rights and love for his neighbors in hot spots all over the world courageously and often controversially.

On Aug. 25, 2009, news of the death of my former boss, U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, reached us on our mobile phones just before the flight attendants secured the door for a long flight home from a trip to Israel. We had been talking about Kennedy’s failing health the previous evening at dinner in the lovely gardens of the American Colony Hotel in Jerusalem.

At that dinner, Carter and Rosalynn were, to our surprise, enjoying a quiet meal a few tables away. We asked the headwaiter to deliver a note thanking them for their continuing public service. Carter’s unexpected return note was extraordinarily gracious.

As we continued our dinner, we recounted the bitter Democratic Party presidential primary fight in 1980 between Carter and Kennedy. We especially recalled the awkward moment on the convention stage when, after Carter secured the nomination, he unsuccessfully tried to get Kennedy to shake hands and pose together. It must have been painfully embarrassing for the sitting president to unsuccessfully chase the iconic senator around the convention stage for a photo op of unity that never happened. But Carter tried.

Poignantly, after we landed in Philadelphia, as we walked through the concourse, the first voice we heard on an airport television, delivering a touching elegy for Kennedy, was Carter, speaking via satellite link from Israel. We cried.

The respectful attention deservedly being paid to Carter’s remarkable life and career provides us with a powerful teaching moment. Not a bad lesson for law students and lawyers from a life well lived by a great teacher.

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Nicholas W. Allard is the founding Randall C. Berg Jr. dean of the Jacksonville University College of Law in Florida and previously was the president and dean of the Brooklyn Law School in New York. Allard has worked as the chair of the ABA Standing Committee on the Law Library of Congress, as the chair of its Communications Committee, as a member of the ABA Government Relations Committee, and as a member of its Task Force on Lobbying Reform.

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ABAJournal.com is accepting queries for original, thoughtful, nonpromotional articles and commentary by unpaid contributors to run in the Your Voice section. Details and submission guidelines are posted at “Your Submissions, Your Voice.”

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This column reflects the opinions of the author and not necessarily the views of the ABA Journal—or the American Bar Association.

A Tennessee elementary school teacher who became pregnant with the baby of one victim and had the baby has learned her fate.

Alissa McCommon, 38, was sentenced on Friday to 25 years without parole for rape of a child, statutory rape, and sexual exploitation of minors, prosecutors said in a Friday press release. She was also sentenced to community supervision for life on the Tennessee Sex Offender Registry as a Violent Sex Offender and was ordered to have no contact with the victims. She’ll also have her teaching license revoked.

“These convictions and sentence demonstrate the continuing commitment of law enforcement and the District Attorney’s Office to aggressively investigate and prosecute child rape and sexual abuse cases in this District, especially where there are minor child victims,” said Mark E. Davidson, the District Attorney General for the 25th Judicial District in the press release. “We are glad that we were able to achieve finality, certainty, and closure for the victims and their families and the Tipton County community in this case.”

With the support of a slain teacher’s family, prosecutors in Shelby County, Tennessee, reached a plea deal with her killer. The Shelby County District Attorney’s Office previously sought the death penalty against Cleotha Abston, 40, for abducting, beating, and shooting Eliza Fletcher, 34, while she was on an early-morning jog.

On Monday, however, they announced that they reached a deal in which he pleaded guilty to charges including first-degree aggravated kidnapping, and tampering with evidence, authorities said. In exchange, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Prosecutors said they reached the deal with the support of Fletcher’s family. District Attorney Steve Mulroy read their statement on their behalf in court, in which they mourned Eliza, and called out Abston for his actions.

More Law&Crime coverage: Suspects blame each other, give horrific details of rape and murder of 12-year-old girl, warrant says

“We have no idea what happened to you to turn you into someone so filled with a desire to hurt people,” they wrote. “Whatever it was, it does not excuse or explain what you have done. You have changed our lives forever, and nothing will ever be the same. Your actions were evil. There is no other word for it. You murdered Liza, even though she did nothing to deserve it. She did not hurt you. In fact, she would’ve been the first to help if you needed it.”

Prosecutors described Fletcher as a devoted mother and beloved kindergarten teacher at St. Mary’s Episcopal School.

A North Texas middle school teacher was arrested this week for sexual crimes involving one of her former students, Lone Star State police say.

Angela Barnes, 45, currently stands accused of one count each of sexual assault of a child and improper relationship between educator and student, according to a press release issued by the Keller Police Department on Monday.

The defendant is a teacher at Carroll Middle School in Southlake, a tony and affluent suburb of nearby Fort Worth and farther-flung Dallas. The city is predominantly in Tarrant County, but small portions extend into Denton County to the north. Keller is a similarly high-income suburb — located immediately adjacent to the west.

A French teacher has settled with the Virginia school board that fired him for refusing to use a transgender boy’s pronouns.

Peter Vlaming will receive $575,000 in damages and attorneys’ fees, said his legal team at the Alliance Defending Freedom, a far-right advocacy organization known for filing lawsuits aimed at rolling back the rights of gay, lesbian, and transgender people.

“I was wrongfully fired from my teaching job because my religious beliefs put me on a collision course with school administrators who mandated that teachers ascribe to only one perspective on gender identity — their preferred view,” he said in a statement. “I loved teaching French and gracefully tried to accommodate every student in my class, but I couldn’t say something that directly violated my conscience. I’m very grateful for the work of my attorneys at Alliance Defending Freedom to bring my case to victory, and hope it helps protect every other teacher and professor’s fundamental First Amendment rights.”

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West Point Public Schools Superintendent Larry Frazier told Newport News outlet The Daily Press that “we are pleased to be able to reach a resolution that will not have a negative impact on the students, staff or school community of West Point.”

The Virginia Supreme Court last December reinstated Vlaming’s lawsuit, which the Circuit Court of King William County had previously dismissed.

“[N]o government committed to these principles can lawfully coerce its citizens into pledging verbal allegiance to ideological views that violate their sincerely held religious beliefs,” the decision also said. The judges found that the lower court “erred dismissing this claim on demurrer on the ground that Vlaming’s factual allegations, even if assumed to be true, were insufficient as a matter of law to state a free-exercise claim” under Virginia law.