Michigan Supreme Court won't hear out Oxford High School mass shooting civil cases
Michigan Supreme Court / Hall of Justice | Photo by Jon King
The Michigan Supreme Court denied a request on Wednesday filed on behalf of the parents of the victims of the 2021 Oxford High School mass shooting to hear out legal arguments that the school and its employees failed to protect their kids.
The denial marks a monumental blow to civil case efforts against Oxford Community Schools by the families of students who were killed, injured or now live with the impact of the killings.
In their order, the justices said that the court was not persuaded that the issues being raised by the families and their attorneys should be reviewed by the state Supreme Court.
Attorneys representing the families argued in lower courts that Michigan's Governmental Tort Liability Act has been unconstitutionally protecting Oxford Public Schools and its employees from civil liability for their 'grossly negligent' actions prior to the November 2021 shooting. In September, the Michigan Court of Appeals sided with Oxford Schools in maintaining its immunity and the attorneys representing the students' families sought to have the state's highest court hear their arguments.
Without their day in court, Buck Myre, father of Tate Myre who was killed in the shooting at age 16, said during a news conference Wednesday the state of Michigan is telling families that it's okay if tragedies like what happened at Oxford High School happen again and again.
'It's our government saying nothing's going to change. We don't have to change, and we're willing to sacrifice kids as a gun statistic to keep doing what we're doing,' Myre said. 'I would never want anybody to walk in these shoes that we're walking in. That's why we want there to be change.'
The government should not be immune from accountability, Myre said, and every effort should be made to analyze what the school did wrong and how the lives of his son, Hana St. Juliana, 14; Justin Shilling, 17, and Madisyn Baldwin, 17, could have been saved.
Could a Michigan school shooting have been prevented?
Soon after the tragedy at Oxford High School, the public became aware that on the day of the shooting, where the shooter, then a 15-year-old student at the school, drew pictures of the gun he had brought to school on an assignment, along with a bloodied figure and the words 'Blood everywhere,', 'The world is dead.' and 'Help me.'
The shooter had several interactions in recent months with school employees about concerning behaviors like an apparent drop in mood and searching online for firearm ammunition during class. After a teacher saw what the shooter drew on his assignment, his parents were called to the school for a meeting with school staff who didn't make the parents take their son home for the day, nor did anyone at the school check his school bag for the gun.
The shooter was sentenced to Michigan's highest criminal penalty, life in prison without the possibility of parole, in December of 2023. His parents were sentenced to 10-15 years in prison on four counts of involuntary manslaughter for their role in the killings in April 2024.
Judges throw out Oxford school shooting families' case against school officials
The reality is there have been more school shootings since Oxford and there are things the world could've learned from this tragedy if the courts would allow light to shine on that day back in 2021, Meghan Gregory, mother of Keegan Gregory who survived the Oxford High School shooting said during the Wednesday news conference.
Those kids' lives matter, Gregory said, and so while Oxford Schools can hide behind immunity, the families whose lives are forever changed by the shooting will work to find a way for accountability to happen and the truth to be revealed.
'I think we're all still kind of just trying to process that they won't even listen to our case,' Gregory said. 'This was a mass casualty, this was a huge deal and the fact they don't seem to care is just, it's really disheartening.'
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Michigan Supreme Court won't hear out Oxford High School mass shooting civil cases
Michigan Supreme Court / Hall of Justice | Photo by Jon King The Michigan Supreme Court denied a request on Wednesday filed on behalf of the parents of the victims of the 2021 Oxford High School mass shooting to hear out legal arguments that the school and its employees failed to protect their kids. The denial marks a monumental blow to civil case efforts against Oxford Community Schools by the families of students who were killed, injured or now live with the impact of the killings. In their order, the justices said that the court was not persuaded that the issues being raised by the families and their attorneys should be reviewed by the state Supreme Court. Attorneys representing the families argued in lower courts that Michigan's Governmental Tort Liability Act has been unconstitutionally protecting Oxford Public Schools and its employees from civil liability for their 'grossly negligent' actions prior to the November 2021 shooting. In September, the Michigan Court of Appeals sided with Oxford Schools in maintaining its immunity and the attorneys representing the students' families sought to have the state's highest court hear their arguments. Without their day in court, Buck Myre, father of Tate Myre who was killed in the shooting at age 16, said during a news conference Wednesday the state of Michigan is telling families that it's okay if tragedies like what happened at Oxford High School happen again and again. 'It's our government saying nothing's going to change. We don't have to change, and we're willing to sacrifice kids as a gun statistic to keep doing what we're doing,' Myre said. 'I would never want anybody to walk in these shoes that we're walking in. That's why we want there to be change.' The government should not be immune from accountability, Myre said, and every effort should be made to analyze what the school did wrong and how the lives of his son, Hana St. Juliana, 14; Justin Shilling, 17, and Madisyn Baldwin, 17, could have been saved. Could a Michigan school shooting have been prevented? Soon after the tragedy at Oxford High School, the public became aware that on the day of the shooting, where the shooter, then a 15-year-old student at the school, drew pictures of the gun he had brought to school on an assignment, along with a bloodied figure and the words 'Blood everywhere,', 'The world is dead.' and 'Help me.' The shooter had several interactions in recent months with school employees about concerning behaviors like an apparent drop in mood and searching online for firearm ammunition during class. After a teacher saw what the shooter drew on his assignment, his parents were called to the school for a meeting with school staff who didn't make the parents take their son home for the day, nor did anyone at the school check his school bag for the gun. The shooter was sentenced to Michigan's highest criminal penalty, life in prison without the possibility of parole, in December of 2023. His parents were sentenced to 10-15 years in prison on four counts of involuntary manslaughter for their role in the killings in April 2024. Judges throw out Oxford school shooting families' case against school officials The reality is there have been more school shootings since Oxford and there are things the world could've learned from this tragedy if the courts would allow light to shine on that day back in 2021, Meghan Gregory, mother of Keegan Gregory who survived the Oxford High School shooting said during the Wednesday news conference. Those kids' lives matter, Gregory said, and so while Oxford Schools can hide behind immunity, the families whose lives are forever changed by the shooting will work to find a way for accountability to happen and the truth to be revealed. 'I think we're all still kind of just trying to process that they won't even listen to our case,' Gregory said. 'This was a mass casualty, this was a huge deal and the fact they don't seem to care is just, it's really disheartening.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
6 days ago
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Michigan Supreme Court won't hear out Oxford High School mass shooting civil cases
Michigan Supreme Court / Hall of Justice | Photo by Jon King The Michigan Supreme Court denied a request on Wednesday filed on behalf of the parents of the victims of the 2021 Oxford High School mass shooting to hear out legal arguments that the school and its employees failed to protect their kids. The denial marks a monumental blow to civil case efforts against Oxford Community Schools by the families of students who were killed, injured or now live with the impact of the killings. In their order, the justices said that the court was not persuaded that the issues being raised by the families and their attorneys should be reviewed by the state Supreme Court. Attorneys representing the families argued in lower courts that Michigan's Governmental Tort Liability Act has been unconstitutionally protecting Oxford Public Schools and its employees from civil liability for their 'grossly negligent' actions prior to the November 2021 shooting. In September, the Michigan Court of Appeals sided with Oxford Schools in maintaining its immunity and the attorneys representing the students' families sought to have the state's highest court hear their arguments. Without their day in court, Buck Myre, father of Tate Myre who was killed in the shooting at age 16, said during a news conference Wednesday the state of Michigan is telling families that it's okay if tragedies like what happened at Oxford High School happen again and again. 'It's our government saying nothing's going to change. We don't have to change, and we're willing to sacrifice kids as a gun statistic to keep doing what we're doing,' Myre said. 'I would never want anybody to walk in these shoes that we're walking in. That's why we want there to be change.' The government should not be immune from accountability, Myre said, and every effort should be made to analyze what the school did wrong and how the lives of his son, Hana St. Juliana, 14; Justin Shilling, 17, and Madisyn Baldwin, 17, could have been saved. Could a Michigan school shooting have been prevented? Soon after the tragedy at Oxford High School, the public became aware that on the day of the shooting, where the shooter, then a 15-year-old student at the school, drew pictures of the gun he had brought to school on an assignment, along with a bloodied figure and the words 'Blood everywhere,', 'The world is dead.' and 'Help me.' The shooter had several interactions in recent months with school employees about concerning behaviors like an apparent drop in mood and searching online for firearm ammunition during class. After a teacher saw what the shooter drew on his assignment, his parents were called to the school for a meeting with school staff who didn't make the parents take their son home for the day, nor did anyone at the school check his school bag for the gun. The shooter was sentenced to Michigan's highest criminal penalty, life in prison without the possibility of parole, in December of 2023. His parents were sentenced to 10-15 years in prison on four counts of involuntary manslaughter for their role in the killings in April 2024. Judges throw out Oxford school shooting families' case against school officials The reality is there have been more school shootings since Oxford and there are things the world could've learned from this tragedy if the courts would allow light to shine on that day back in 2021, Meghan Gregory, mother of Keegan Gregory who survived the Oxford High School shooting said during the Wednesday news conference. Those kids' lives matter, Gregory said, and so while Oxford Schools can hide behind immunity, the families whose lives are forever changed by the shooting will work to find a way for accountability to happen and the truth to be revealed. 'I think we're all still kind of just trying to process that they won't even listen to our case,' Gregory said. 'This was a mass casualty, this was a huge deal and the fact they don't seem to care is just, it's really disheartening.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
