'ZERO TOLERANCE' POLICIES IN SCHOOLS ARE CRITICIZED

"Zero tolerance'' policies in schools can be unfair, some lawyers argue,
because a student found with aspirin in his pocket can get suspended as
quickly as one with marijuana.

Leaders of the 400,000-member American Bar Association probably will come
out against such rules at the close of their winter meeting in San Diego.

Opponents of the policies at the association and in some civil liberties
groups point to examples they say show zero tolerance has run amok: the
Pittsburgh kindergartner disciplined in 1999 because his Halloween
firefighter costume included a plastic ax, and the Cobb County, Ga.,
sixth-grader suspended last year because the 10-inch key chain on her
Tweety bird wallet is considered a weapon.