Presumed guilty

Cheers to Suzanne Malis-Andersen, the sixth-grade teacher at Brewer Middle School who is taking a stand against state-mandated fingerprinting and criminal background checks for school employees.

Children should be safe in school — safe from gun violence, safe from abuse and safe from predators of all shades. But Malis-Andersen is right to question the fundamental justifications behind forcing teachers, bus drivers, custodians and other school personnel to be fingerprinted and to submit to criminal background checks.

Forget, for the moment, that it costs $49 to perform those checks, and at this hour, school employees must bear the cost. (The Legislature is considering a bill that will have taxpayers pick up the cost.) The issue is markedly deeper than a few or even several dollars.

The issue is treating school employees as though they are convicted pedophiles. By demanding that school employees — many, such as Malis-Andersen, with multiple-year records of proven service — submit to fingerprinting and criminal background checks, we effectively presume them guilty.

“If people have nothing to hide, they have nothing to fear,” say supporters of the law that requires school employees to be submit to this offensive mandate by July 1 or lose their jobs. But that’s not what history proves. Too many human tragedies have been built on hysteria and seemingly well-intentioned measures that eroded basic civil rights, bit by bit.

As Malis-Andersen notes, such seemingly innocuous invasions in basic liberties tend to grow. With every passing indignity the government places upon its citizens, with every new intrusion upon constitutional rights — which include restrictions on unreasonable searches and seizures — society moves a step closer to the day when presumption and whim, rather than evidence and culpability, can convict.

The objection to state policy is not about the money, and it’s not wanting to protect school children. It is about assuming the worst and presuming guilt. Malis-Anderson is willing to give up the job she loves to take a stand. That would be a tragic loss. She’s teaching a valuable lesson right now, and it’s too bad that those who normally defend the principles Malis-Andersen is demonstrating haven’t shown up to class.