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Teen sues sheriff who ordered her to delete Instagram post claiming she had COVID-19
By NANCY DILLON
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS | APR 17, 2020 | 1:42 PM
Source:https://www.nydailynews.com/coronav...0200417-ytra5djimrahneq2barna74via-story.html
The lawsuit filed in federal court Thursday on behalf of Amyiah Cohoon (pictured) and her parents, Richard and Angela, claims Marquette County Sheriff Joseph Konrath and a patrol sergeant violated the 16-year-old girl’s First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.(Photo from court documents)
A Wisconsin teen is suing sheriff’s officials who allegedly ordered her to delete an Instagram post about her suspected coronavirus infection because school officials didn’t believe her.
The lawsuit filed in federal court Thursday on behalf of Amyiah Cohoon and her parents, Richard and Angela, claims Marquette County Sheriff Joseph Konrath and a patrol sergeant violated the 16-year-old girl’s First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.
According to the complaint, Amyiah, a high school sophomore, started suffering from a fever and dry cough shortly after she returned from a spring break trip to Disney World and Universal Studios in Florida with her high school’s band class that ended March 15.
Her mother took her to the emergency room at Divine Savior Hospital in Portage, Wis., where doctors concluded her symptoms matched those of COVID-19, the lawsuit states.
Hospital officials could not test her due to the guidelines at that time, but they instructed her to self-quarantine and wrote on her discharge order she was diagnosed with an “acute upper respiratory infection, unspecified,” the complaint says.
The doctors also gave the Cohoons a work release form stating that “Amyiah has symptoms consistent with COVID-19,” according to the filing.
Amyiah posted about her medical scare on Instagram, saying she was recovering from “the COVID-19 virus” and wasn’t allowed to leave her room.
The teen returned to the hospital March 25 when her symptoms worsened, and a coronavirus test was administered that evening, the lawsuit states.
“The test came back negative, but the doctors told the Cohoons that Amyiah still likely had COVID-19 and had missed the window for testing positive,” the lawsuit claims.
Amyiah again wrote about her experience on Instagram, posting a photo of herself at the hospital with an oxygen mask and saying, “I am finally home after being hospitalized for a day and a half. I am still on breathing treatment but have beaten the coronavirus.”
On March 27, a Marquette County Sheriff’s patrol sergeant was dispatched to the Cohoons’ home to order Amyiah to delete one of her posts or face arrest for disorderly conduct, the paperwork states.
Amyiah complied, due to the threat of jail time, but she believes her rights to free speech and equal protection were violated, the lawsuit filed on her behalf by the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty argues.
Shortly after Amyiah removed the post, her family learned school officials sent an update to families in the district describing her posts as “nonsense.”
Sheriff Konrath and school officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the Daily News Friday.
Law enforcement’s “threats to cite and arrest Amyiah for posting about her experience are especially troubling in light of (school officials’) statements accusing Amyiah of not being truthful and engaging in ‘a foolish means to get attention,’” her lawsuit states.
“With the threats of law enforcement looming over her head, Amyiah has felt unable to respond on social media to (school officials’) allegations, and she is now afraid of returning to school for fear of what her classmates and teachers will think about her,” the filing in the Eastern District of Wisconsin states.
By NANCY DILLON
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS | APR 17, 2020 | 1:42 PM
Source:https://www.nydailynews.com/coronav...0200417-ytra5djimrahneq2barna74via-story.html
The lawsuit filed in federal court Thursday on behalf of Amyiah Cohoon (pictured) and her parents, Richard and Angela, claims Marquette County Sheriff Joseph Konrath and a patrol sergeant violated the 16-year-old girl’s First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.(Photo from court documents)
A Wisconsin teen is suing sheriff’s officials who allegedly ordered her to delete an Instagram post about her suspected coronavirus infection because school officials didn’t believe her.
The lawsuit filed in federal court Thursday on behalf of Amyiah Cohoon and her parents, Richard and Angela, claims Marquette County Sheriff Joseph Konrath and a patrol sergeant violated the 16-year-old girl’s First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.
According to the complaint, Amyiah, a high school sophomore, started suffering from a fever and dry cough shortly after she returned from a spring break trip to Disney World and Universal Studios in Florida with her high school’s band class that ended March 15.
Her mother took her to the emergency room at Divine Savior Hospital in Portage, Wis., where doctors concluded her symptoms matched those of COVID-19, the lawsuit states.
Hospital officials could not test her due to the guidelines at that time, but they instructed her to self-quarantine and wrote on her discharge order she was diagnosed with an “acute upper respiratory infection, unspecified,” the complaint says.
The doctors also gave the Cohoons a work release form stating that “Amyiah has symptoms consistent with COVID-19,” according to the filing.
Amyiah posted about her medical scare on Instagram, saying she was recovering from “the COVID-19 virus” and wasn’t allowed to leave her room.
The teen returned to the hospital March 25 when her symptoms worsened, and a coronavirus test was administered that evening, the lawsuit states.
“The test came back negative, but the doctors told the Cohoons that Amyiah still likely had COVID-19 and had missed the window for testing positive,” the lawsuit claims.
Amyiah again wrote about her experience on Instagram, posting a photo of herself at the hospital with an oxygen mask and saying, “I am finally home after being hospitalized for a day and a half. I am still on breathing treatment but have beaten the coronavirus.”
On March 27, a Marquette County Sheriff’s patrol sergeant was dispatched to the Cohoons’ home to order Amyiah to delete one of her posts or face arrest for disorderly conduct, the paperwork states.
Amyiah complied, due to the threat of jail time, but she believes her rights to free speech and equal protection were violated, the lawsuit filed on her behalf by the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty argues.
Shortly after Amyiah removed the post, her family learned school officials sent an update to families in the district describing her posts as “nonsense.”
Sheriff Konrath and school officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the Daily News Friday.
Law enforcement’s “threats to cite and arrest Amyiah for posting about her experience are especially troubling in light of (school officials’) statements accusing Amyiah of not being truthful and engaging in ‘a foolish means to get attention,’” her lawsuit states.
“With the threats of law enforcement looming over her head, Amyiah has felt unable to respond on social media to (school officials’) allegations, and she is now afraid of returning to school for fear of what her classmates and teachers will think about her,” the filing in the Eastern District of Wisconsin states.
