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Top Court Takes A Pass On Ex-Poughkeepsie Schools Chief's Appeal

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. -- Former Poughkeepsie schools chief Robert Watson has lost his bid to have his “malicious prosecution” case reviewed in the U.S. Supreme Court, according to a report by the Poughkeepsie Journal.

Former Poughkeepsie schools chief Robert Watson lost his bid to have the U.S. Supreme Court review a lower court decision to dismiss his $100 million "malicious prosecution" case against the district.

Former Poughkeepsie schools chief Robert Watson lost his bid to have the U.S. Supreme Court review a lower court decision to dismiss his $100 million "malicious prosecution" case against the district.

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Watson -- who had been charged with, but was later acquitted of, financial improprieties while superintendent -- later filed a federal civil suit against the school district for $100 million claiming that his career had been left in tatters, the Poughkeepsie Journal report said.

He headed the school district from 2000-2006, when he left under a controversial $163,000 buyout agreement, according to edweek.org. He was cleared of all the criminal charges in 2008 and sued, claiming malicious prosecution, in 2009.

In 2015, a U.S. Federal Court judge had dismissed Watson’s suit against several school trustees, the district’s lawyer and business manager, and other officials, including Dutchess County's district attorney, the Poughkeepsie Journal said.

Watson took his case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, but judges there upheld Judge Nelson Roman's decision, so, last fall,  he petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for a review. It was dismissed last week without comment, the Poughkeepsie Journal reported.

The court reportedly receives thousands of such writ of certiorari petitions each term, but actually takes on less than 100.

To read the Poughkeepsie Journal story, click here.

To read the edweek.org story, click here.

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