My first reaction to that cell-phone video of Jolita Berry being pummeled by one of her students was this: Any one of the teachers of my youth could have taken that girl, easy. But then, I didn't go to Reginald F. Lewis High School in Baltimore; I went to Catholic school in suburban Chicago where the nuns - however wizened and, at least in my earliest grades, weighed down by their veils, robes and swinging ropes of rosaries - were quite fearsome.
They could drag kids of any size by the ear and slam them into the supply closet, which I guess would be the pre-historic, pre-litigious version of today's time-out. If you talked out of turn too much or kept a particularly messy work space - don't ask how I know this - they might tape your mouth shut or upend your desk, scattering its contents for you to clean up.
But far more impressive than the occasional show of force was how rarely they had to wield it. Their authority was implicit.
There was a lot of disturbing and sometimes contradictory testimony in the trial of the student - The Baltimore Sun isn't naming her because she is a juvenile - who on Tuesday was acquitted of assault in the beating of the art teacher, although she was found to have engaged in disorderly conduct.
But one thing seems clear: If Berry ever had any authority over that classroom, it was long gone by the time of the April 4 incident.
This is not to blame the victim. Let's be clear about this: The part of the brawl captured on video shows Berry pinned to the floor and getting punched, which most people might think is pretty good evidence of a crime being committed. (Of course, a certain Rodney King might tell you that no tape, however clearly it shows a beating, is invincible in a courtroom.)
But what happened before the cell-phone photographer got rolling is perhaps the more disturbing part of this case - former colleagues and students testified for the defense that not only had Berry thrown the first punch in the brawl, she had a history of engaging in verbal fisticuffs with students and failing to maintain control of her classroom.
There was testimony that she taunted students as "ghetto" and regularly played a radio during class. And, before this particular fight, witnesses said, she cursed at her combatant, bragged about her martial arts skills, tied her hair back and wrapped a lanyard and keys around her fist - what, she left the brass knuckles at home? - in preparation for battle.
