Court spurns Virginia mom's conviction for taking children to school late

By Gary Robertson RICHMOND Va. (Reuters) - Virginia's compulsory school-attendance law is too vague to be used to prosecute a divorced mother for bringing her children to school late, the state's highest court ruled on Friday, overturning her convictions in a lower court. The decision by the Virginia Supreme Court was a victory for Maureen Anne Blake, a mother of three who shares custody with her ex-husband. She had been convicted on three misdemeanor charges related to her children’s school tardiness, with each count based on five instances of tardiness, from Dec. 1, 2011, to Jan. 19, 2012. In the majority opinion, Justice LeRoy F. Millette Jr. said the language of the state law was "ambiguous," especially in directing parents to "send" their children to school. "The word 'send' has a variety of different definitions," Millette wrote. The children, ages 9, 10, 11, were repeatedly five to 20 minutes late to their classes on Thursdays, according to court records. Blake had custody of her children Wednesday nights and was responsible for transporting them to school on Thursday mornings. After receiving a warning letter, the mother told a school attendance officer that she suffered from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and her ADHD contributed to her children being late to school. She said one of her children also had been diagnosed with ADHD. School officials said her explanation was not sufficient to mark her children’s tardiness as "excused," and they prosecuted her in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. Blake appealed her convictions in Juvenile Court to the Loudoun County Circuit Court but was convicted on three Class 3 misdemeanors, one for each child. Then she appealed to the Virginia Court of Appeals, which denied her motion. Finally, Blake appealed to the state’s highest court. (Reporting by Gary Robertson; Editing by Frank McGurty and Eric Beech)