Rules must be interpreted fairly

Amen to Dan Goldberg's letter of Nov.1 about his son being expelled after accidentally leaving his Boy Scout knife on the key ring he brought to school.

My daughter went through the same thing as a junior at Westlake High School in 1999. My daughter, Shelsi, wasn't only a model student, but the model child that every parent dreams of. She was shy and beautiful and had never been in trouble a day in her life, except when she drew circles with crayons on all of our walls at 3 years old.

Her brother had graduated from Westlake the year before, and on one very normal day she asked if she could use his car to drive to school. He said yes and handed her his keys. By some random chance on the way from the car to her first class, unbeknownst to her, the keys fell out of her backpack on the path from the parking lot.

After the keys were finally tracked to her, the events which followed were completely unbelievable. Both her father and I were called, but I was the only one who could make it to the school. When I arrived she was sitting in a room with her school counselor, the vice principal and a policeman. When I looked at her, she looked like a deer caught in headlights. The situation was so ludicrous all both of us could do was laugh. Before the day had ended she had been led to the squad car by the officer, was handcuffed and put in the back seat, taken to the station and booked, mugshot and all. What made this an arrestable offense was that the knife that my son had on his key chain, which he used for unscrewing the backs of computers doing his job as a computer tech, even though it was only about 2 inches long, had a locking knife blade.

Possessing two types of knives can get you arrested we found out--if it has a locking blade or if it's 4 inches or longer. Eventually the probation office threw the case out, and, after going before the superintendent of schools, she was allowed to do a five-day suspension rather than expulsion, which the principal had recommended.

As a child who felt like her homework was about the most important thing in her life, this was devastating to her. The stress and worry over this event, and not being able to keep up with her classes, eventually led to her immune system weakening, and a month or so later she had to miss another week of classes because she developed mononucleosis.

I agree with everything Mr. Goldberg said in his letter. One-size-fits-all punishment just seems to throw any kind of justice out the window. Sheri Hancock Aliso Viejo, Calif.