Jackson Free Press

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Murrah High School basketball coach Marlon Dorsey has been suspended for allegedly whipping players with a weightlifting belt, CNN reported yesterday. Parents of three players filed suit against Dorsey on Tuesday, also naming assistant coach Brandon Sanders, Murrah Principal Frederick Murray and Jackson Public Schools in the suit.

In a statement released yesterday, Superintendent Lonnie Edwards said that the district had reviewed the allegations and made a decision, but did not disclose what disciplinary action it would take against Dorsey.

"I have discussed our findings with the administrative staff and have decided to handle the situation within the policies of the school district, which allow for suspension without pay or termination for violation of the corporal punishment policy," Edwards said. "In taking action, the school district considered the seriousness of the circumstances, prevailing policy, input and concerns from parents and the athletes involved and Coach Dorsey's overall employee performance record. Since this is a personnel matter, no further details will be provided to the public by the school district. We do not want to violate Coach Dorsey's privacy rights."

Lisa Ross, attorney for the plaintiffs, told CNN yesterday that Dorsey is suspended for 28 days.

Several media outlets have aired the cell-phone video mentioned in the lawsuit, which purports to show Dorsey whipping a player for not running plays correctly.

In the suit, the parents allege that Sanders and Dorsey instructed players not to tell others about the whippings and that Dorsey told players that they could either receive whippings or leave the team.

In a written statement issued after the parents' allegations became public, Dorsey acknowledged paddling students.

"I took it upon myself to save these young men from the destruction of self and what society has accepted and become silent to the issues our students are facing on a daily basis," Dorsey wrote.

Jackson Public Schools banned corporal punishment in 1990. Roughly 100 of the Mississippi's 152 school districts still allow corporal punishment, including Madison, Rankin and Hinds counties.

Previous Comments

ID

160883

Comment

It has also been on ESPN.com and Sportscenter. Here is a link to the ESPN story. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/highschool/news/story?id=5793186

Author

Bryan Flynn

Date

2010-11-12T15:29:51-06:00

ID

160886

Comment

Now I have given my opinion a bunch of times today and I don't want to take over all the threads today, but I seen a lot of stuff where I just had to add my two cents. This topic tops the list! I just want to say to this coach, what in the world were you thinking about!? Especially considering allllllllllllllll the other drama that JPS has encountered within the last year? If you work in JPS and your reading my posts, please think about anything you may be doing that may be considered a distraction for your family, your job, your students, the kids you work with or your career? Please stop and think before you touch any money that students raised via fund raisers, contact a student outside of the work place after hours, please inform a parent if you have to lay hands on their child prior to doing so, please do not encounter or begin an outside relationship with anyone you work with while being in a relationship with someone else, please be aware of your fellow co-workers sexual orientation before you do anything or say anything out of the way. This applies to all grown people, but it super applies to any adults that work in our public educational system in Jackson, Mississippi!

Author

Duan C.

Date

2010-11-12T15:58:59-06:00

ID

160889

Comment

I saw it on ESPN's crawl space this morning. I would surprised if it makes the morning news shows before too long.

Author

golden eagle

Date

2010-11-12T16:57:24-06:00

ID

160914

Comment

It is too bad that Coach Dorsey did not have other skills to use as disciplinary actions. Many professionals who do not possess these skills rely on that old slave mentality, "beat 'em til they break." I ask folks all the time about coporal punishment. It is interesting that the same folks who believe in "whipping" kids would die and go to hell before they would "whip" a dog. If dogs can learn appropriate behavior through obedience training techniques, why do you think that kids can't?

Author

justjess

Date

2010-11-15T16:12:04-06:00