Mahony Urges Release of Verdicts During School Hours

Declaring that teachers have a key role in minimizing conflicts and misunderstandings that may arise when the Rodney G. King civil rights trial ends, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony has urged U.S. District Judge John G. Davies to announce the verdicts when students are in school.

Mahony, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Los Angeles, said the best time to release the verdicts would be between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. when all public and private schools are in session.

“All of our people in public and private education will be extremely important allies to help interpret the verdicts and the outcome of the trial to our young people, and to assist them to understand those verdicts and outcome,” the cardinal said in the March 19 letter, which the archdiocese made public on Tuesday. “Our overall hope,” Mahony said, “is to minimize any difficulties once the verdicts have been reached and announced.”

Mahony reminded the judge that public schools will be closed for spring break April 5-9. Private and parochial schools will be closed April 12-16. Although it is unlikely that the trial will end that soon, Mahony urged the judge not to announce the verdicts during those weeks.

There are 1.4 million public school students in Los Angeles County, including 640,000 students in the Los Angeles Unified School District. About 200,000 students attend private and parochial schools in the county.