Current:Home > ScamsMinnesota court affirms rejection of teaching license for ex-officer who shot Philando Castile -EverVision Finance
Minnesota court affirms rejection of teaching license for ex-officer who shot Philando Castile
View
Date:2025-04-13 12:26:34
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A Minnesota board was justified when it rejected a substitute teaching license for a former police officer who fatally shot a Black man during a traffic stop in 2016, an appeals court ruled Monday.
The Minnesota Court of Appeals affirmed the findings of the Minnesota Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board, which concluded Jeronimo Yanez did not meet the moral standards required to teach in public schools.
The court had sent the case back to the licensing board in 2022 to reconsider its initial rejection of Yanez’s teaching license application, which was based on “immoral character or conduct.” The court said that reason was unconstitutionally vague and ordered the board to focus narrowly on whether Yanez’s conduct made him unfit to teach.
The board then conducted further proceedings and denied his application a second time.
Yanez, a former St. Anthony police officer, shot Philando Castile during a traffic stop after Castile volunteered that he had a gun. Authorities later discovered that Castile, a 32-year-old St. Paul elementary school cafeteria worker, had a permit for the firearm. The case got widespread attention after Castile’s girlfriend, who was in the car with her young daughter, began livestreaming the shooting’s aftermath on Facebook.
Yanez was acquitted of manslaughter. Castile’s death — which preceded the killing of George Floyd, a Black man whose death at the hands of a white Minneapolis police officer in 2020 launched a nationwide reckoning on race — also led to massive public outcry and protests in Minnesota and beyond. Yanez quit law enforcement after his trial and eventually began teaching Spanish part-time at a parochial school.
In reconsidering Yanez’s license application, the board concluded Yanez racially profiled Castile when he stopped him, thinking he might be a robbery suspect, and said his decision to fire seven shots into the car not only killed Castile but endangered the lives of his girlfriend and her daughter.
The board found that those actions ran contrary to provisions of the ethics code for Minnesota teachers on nondiscrimination, exercising disciplinary authority and protecting students from harm.
On Monday, the appeals court said the board followed the proper legal standards this time and made its decision based on extensive evidence. Experts who testified included Joseph Gothard, superintendent of St. Paul Public Schools, who asserted Yanez’s prejudgments of Castile indicated bias and microaggressions that would be detrimental to students, especially students of color.
“Dr. Gothard questioned Yanez’s ability to meet the ethical demands for a diverse student population and opined that Yanez’s presence as a teacher in a Minnesota classroom poses a risk of retraumatizing students, staff, and families,” the appeals court noted.
Yanez’s attorney, Robert Fowler, said the board lacks any expertise on policing issues to draw any conclusions on whether Yanez should be allowed to teach.
“The licensing board cherry picked its findings to make biased conclusions,” Fowler said in an email. “Unfortunately, the court was not willing to take up these difficult political issues and instead just rubber stamped the agency’s decision. This whole case is further proof that issues surrounding police are not able to be decided in a fair and unbiased manner.”
The attorney said Yanez continues to teach at the parochial school.
veryGood! (93)
Related
- Dick Vitale announces he is cancer free: 'Santa Claus came early'
- 1 mountain climber's unique mission: to scale every county peak in Florida
- 4 in stolen car flee attempted traffic stop, die in fiery Maryland crash, police say
- Amber Alert issued for possibly abducted 9-year-old girl last seen at state park
- Can Bill Belichick turn North Carolina into a winner? At 72, he's chasing one last high
- One year after deadly fan crush at Indonesia soccer stadium, families still seek justice
- Taylor Swift, Brittany Mahomes, Sophie Turner and Blake Lively Spotted Out to Dinner in NYC
- Tropical Storm Philippe threatens flash floods Monday in Leeward Islands, forecasters say
- Can Bill Belichick turn North Carolina into a winner? At 72, he's chasing one last high
- Powerball jackpot tops $1 billion ahead of next drawing
Ranking
- Intellectuals vs. The Internet
- Nobel Prize announcements are getting underway with the unveiling of the medicine prize
- As if You Can Resist These 21 Nasty Gal Fall Faves Under $50
- Illinois semi-truck crash causes 5 fatalities and an ammonia leak evacuation for residents
- Can Bill Belichick turn North Carolina into a winner? At 72, he's chasing one last high
- Video shows bloodied Black man surrounded by officers during Florida traffic stop
- Tim Wakefield, who revived his career and Red Sox trophy case with knuckleball, has died at 57
- Airbnb guest who rented a room tied up, robbed Georgia homeowner at gunpoint, police say
Recommendation
Woman dies after Singapore family of 3 gets into accident in Taiwan
In New York City, scuba divers’ passion for the sport becomes a mission to collect undersea litter
The Hollywood writers strike is over, but the actors strike could drag on. Here's why
At least 10 migrants are reported killed in a freight truck crash in southern Mexico
The Daily Money: Spending more on holiday travel?
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, pioneering LGBTQ ally, celebrated and mourned in San Francisco
Emergency services on scene after more than 30 trapped in church roof collapse
Stock market today: Asian shares mixed as Japan business confidence rises and US shutdown is averted