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June 8, 2006, 8:41AM
Teen protesters from Round Rock face prosecution
Lawyers donate help to 82 who skipped school for migrant rallies
By LISA FALKENBERG
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau

AUSTIN - Round Rock's decision to prosecute 200 high school students accused of breaking daytime curfew to join immigration protests has outraged some lawyers, prompting two dozen to volunteer to represent the teens, a civil rights group said Wednesday.

Jim Harrington, director of the Texas Civil Rights Project, which is representing 82 of the students who pleaded not guilty to the charges, said he thinks Round Rock is the only city in Texas to bring charges against students who participated in nationwide protests this spring over attempts to toughen U.S. immigration law.

Former Texas Attorney General Jim Mattox, who practices in Austin, is one of 25 lawyers who have offered to defend the teens, mostly from Round Rock and Stony Point high schools.

"I would be embarrassed if I were a prosecutor to bring one of these cases before a judge or a jury," Mattox said. "We criticize our young people for not being interested in civic affairs. We send them to school to have them study government and political science and then when they decide they're going to exercise their rights, we're trying to slap them down. It's un-American."

Mattox said he hopes more lawyers come forward and he called on Round Rock citizens to "stand up and ask these public officials to call a halt to this charade."

The curfew, which requires students younger than 17 to attend school during the day, allows the exercise of First Amendment rights to be used as a defense in municipal court.

But Round Rock City Attorney Steve Sheets said it's up to students to prove to a judge or jury whether they were exercising free speech rights when they skipped school.

"The facts aren't exactly the same in every case, and they will be reviewed in a careful manner to determine if they'll be prosecuted or not," said Sheets, who spoke for the attorney handling the cases because she was unavailable. "It's premature to be passing judgment on anything at this point."

Messages left with Round Rock police, which issued the citations, and high school principals went unreturned Wednesday.

Spokespersons for the Round Rock mayor and superintendent said they were unavailable to comment.

Keith Hampton, a lawyer with the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, said the prosecutions are another example of heavy-handed law enforcement in Round Rock and Williamson County that is out of step with other parts of Texas.

"They did skip school, and perhaps there should be some kind of penalty, but not criminal prosecution. That's ridiculous. They're not criminals," Hampton said. "What kind of message are we sending?"

lisa.falkenberg@chron.com