In re Interest of Elainna R., 298 Neb. 436

On Nov. 17, 2016, Elainna R., a student at Lincoln Southeast High School, engaged in a 2–3 minute physical fight with another student (A.L.) in a school hallway.
School security officer/campus supervisor Sief Mahagoub intervened, loudly ordering the students to stop and physically attempting to separate them; Elainna grabbed A.L.’s hair and struck her, bringing all three to the floor.
Mahagoub testified the fight was intense, disruptive to the school day, and that his training required him to prevent harm; an associate principal corroborated that Elainna was the aggressor and the incident disrupted school operations.
Elainna was charged in juvenile court under Lincoln Mun. Code § 9.20.050 (disturbing the peace — engaging in fighting) and adjudicated under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 43-247(1) (juvenile jurisdiction for ordinance violations).
The juvenile court found the State proved the allegation beyond a reasonable doubt; Elainna appealed, arguing (1) a school security officer cannot be a victim for purposes of the disturbing-the-peace ordinance and (2) insufficient evidence supported adjudication.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether a school security officer/campus supervisor can be a victim under Lincoln’s disturbing-the-peace ordinance	Elainna: school security officers are like police and have no expectation of peace; therefore they are not proper victims	State: ordinance is broadly written and Nebraska precedents allow public officials to be victims	Court: A school security officer/campus supervisor may be a victim of disturbing the peace
Whether evidence was sufficient to prove disturbance of Mahagoub’s peace under § 43-247(1)	Elainna: no evidence of "fighting words" toward Mahagoub; thus no disturbance	State: Elainna’s physical fighting required Mahagoub’s intervention and disrupted his peace	Court: Evidence (physical attack, need for intervention, disruption) was sufficient beyond a reasonable doubt

State v. Broadstone, 233 Neb. 595, 447 N.W.2d 30 (1989) (rejects argument that police officers cannot be victims of fighting words)
State v. Boss, 195 Neb. 467, 238 N.W.2d 639 (1976) (words directed at an officer can be "fighting words")
State v. Groves, 219 Neb. 382, 363 N.W.2d 507 (1985) (officers are not less susceptible to disturbance than the public)
State v. Moore, 226 Neb. 347, 411 N.W.2d 345 (1987) (affirming disturbing-the-peace conviction based on totality of defendant’s conduct in officer’s presence)
State v. McNair, 178 Neb. 763, 135 N.W.2d 463 (1965) (definition of "disturb" as to throw into disorder or interrupt a settled state)