Witch Trial.

• Author: Nagourney, Eric
• Position: Student is suspended for allegedly 'casting a hex' - Brief Article

Somewhere between the Salem witch trials of the 1600s and TV's Sabrina the Teenage Witch lies the case of Brandi Blackbear.

Blackbear, 15, a Tulsa, Oklahoma, 10th-grader, was suspended for 15 days last December, after school officials accused her of casting a hex on a ceramics teacher. (The teacher did get sick.)

An aspiring Stephen King, Blackbear says that she researched Wicca, as modern witchcraft is called, to help write horror stories, but that she is no witch.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which last month sued the district on her behalf, says the case raises issues of free speech. "The fact that she was exploring and curious about this, and they prevented her from studying it, is a direct violation of the United States Constitution," says John...