Justices reject appeal of student arrested for burping

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court has declined to hear a New Mexico mother’s appeal over her son’s arrest for disrupting his seventh grade gym class with fake burps.

The justices on Monday let stand a lower court ruling that said the police officer who arrested the boy in 2011 was immune from liability.

The appeals court’s ruling drew a sharp dissent from then-Judge Neil Gorsuch just six months before he was picked for the Supreme Court vacancy.

The mother featured Gorsuch’s dissent prominently in her appeal to the Supreme Court. Gorsuch said arresting a “class clown” for burping was going “a step too far.”

Justices typically are recused from cases they heard before joining the court, and Gorsuch had no role in considering the case when it came before the high court.