Woman wants court to be held responsible for mask damage
Aug. 17—PLAISTOW — An Exeter woman arrested after a dispute about mask-wearing at a Timberlane Regional School Board meeting wants the court system to take responsibility for any harm done to her if she's required to wear one when she attends her arraignment Sept. 7, and at any other hearings at 10th Circuit Court in Salem.
Kathleen Bossi, 57, was arrested May 20 after she and a group of parents showed up to the Performing Arts Center inside Timberlane Regional High School to address the School Board about the district's mask mandate.
Police complaints say Bossi, alone in being arrested, refused to comply with Plaistow police Sgt. Alec Porter, who ordered her not to enter the space without a mask on. She also is accused of pushing past the officer.
Records show that she now faces misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and criminal trespass.
Representing herself rather than hiring an attorney, Bossi wrote in court documents that she has certain rights. Those rights include the use of her body, what she wears, what she eats, what she believes, where she travels, and her identifying information — especially the manner in which she cares for her own health and wellness, she states.
A judge has yet to address the filing, but an outcome in Bossi's favor would entitle her family to at least $100 million if she dies as a result of wearing a mask or suffers any type of temporary or permanent disability.
She reasons that the court should "indemnify her and take responsibility for medical intervention, including wearing a mask." She says the court has not seen her medical history or examined her and therefore is not entitled to require her to mask up for her days in court.
Included in Bossi's case file is a request for reasonable modifications under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The paperwork explains that at her arraignment, Bossi will require real-time text transcription and other requests to be discussed privately with a courthouse coordinator.
