Parents sue Tennessee governor and school district, claiming kids were punished after officials misinterpreted state statute
By Amy Simonson and Rebekah Riess, CNN
Published 1:27 AM EDT, Wed June 5, 2024
CNN —
Two families have filed a federal lawsuit against Tennessee Governor Bill Lee and the Williamson County School District, claiming their middle school kids were arrested, strip-searched, placed in solitary confinement, forced to undergo evaluations and placed on house arrest after officials misinterpreted a Tennessee statute and claimed that conversations between peers were “threats of mass violence.”
The lawsuit stems from two separate, unrelated incidents in August 2023 where a pair of students were accused of making threatening speech. However, according to the lawsuit, the speech used by the middle schoolers in the two separate incidents did not rise to the level of a threat of mass violence nor did it amount to actions “that a reasonable person would conclude would lead to serious bodily injury” or the death of two or more people, as defined in Tennessee statute 39-16-517.
The lawsuit challenges the way school officials applied Tennessee statute 39-16-517, a 2021 “zero tolerance” law that addresses communications of threats of mass violence on school property or at school related events and requires districts to expel students for one year if they have been found to have made threats of mass violence.
In an August 10, 2023 incident, a 14-year-old boy, identified as B.N., was accused by a fellow student of making threats about having a gun in his backpack, shooting up the school and having a bomb at home, claims the boy denied.
The boy said his only mention of guns was when he told friends about a lunchtime conversation he had with another boy who had described the firearms his grandfather owned.
Following interviews with school officials and police, B.N. “was taken into custody for violating” the Tennessee statute captioned “Threat of Mass Violence on School Property,” the lawsuit said.
He was placed on a 24-hour solitary confinement hold, and required to strip down and change into jail attire while an adult male guard was facing away, the lawsuit said.
B.N. was incarcerated for four days and later placed under house arrest in the custody of his parents, according to the lawsuit. He was “completely banned from any Williamson County School grounds,” the lawsuit said. B.N. also faced a 365-day suspension under the zero tolerance rules.
According to court documents, after B.N. appealed the suspension, Williamson County Superintendent Jason Golden concluded that B.N created a rumor “of a threat of a weapon” at school, and although the “joke caused a disruption in school,” he could return.
“You can blame Governor Bill Lee,” Page Middle School Principal Eric Lifsey allegedly told the 14-year-old boy and his mother. “We don’t think of you as a threat. That was never the case,” the lawsuit said.
CNN reached out to Lifsey for comment.
A spokesperson for Williamson County Schools said in an email to CNN that the district does not comment on pending litigation.
Governor Lee’s office has not responded to CNN’s request for comment.
“The new Tennessee zero tolerance law is being used as bludgeon against children who engage in innocuous conduct typical of all teenagers,” Larry Crain, attorney for the families, said in a statement to CNN.
The second incident occurred on August 22, 2023. According to the lawsuit, school officials said the text of a 13-year-old student at Fairview Middle School, identified as H.M., was deemed a “Threat of Mass Violence.”
The text, which was sent in a school email group chat, said “On Thursday, we will kill all the Mexicos.”
According to court documents, the full transcript of the chat, later obtained by H.M.’s mother, showed that other girls within the chat were teasing H.M. for “looking Mexican because of her darker complexion.”
After one friend asked H.M. what she was doing on Thursday, H.M. “responded in jest, ‘on Thursday we kill all the Mexico’s,’” the lawsuit said.
H.M. was arrested at school, brought to the Williamson County Juvenile Detention Center, forced to undergo a strip search, take a shower while a camera was trained on her and placed in a cell where she was questioned by individuals who asked if she had ever had sex, an abortion or suicidal thoughts.
H.M. was also suspended from school and was ordered to be evaluated for mental illness. She was offered a choice of voluntary or involuntary commitment to determine if she was competent to stand trial, the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit said the two students have “suffered a severe and serious emotional injury” and were “unable to adequately cope with the mental stress” from the circumstances surrounding their cases.
Tennessee law requiring age verification for online porn sites starts Jan. 1
(The Center Square) – Tennessee will make it a felony for a minor to access an adult content website without age verification starting Jan. 1.
Gov. Bill Lee recently signed the bill into law, making the offense a class C felony and making the entity liable for damages, including attorney’s costs and court fees.
Similar laws have passed in Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas, Utah and Louisiana – according to the Tennessean – with the Louisiana law being challenged by the Free Speech Coalition on First Amendment grounds.
Senate Bill 1792, known as the Protect Tennessee Minors Act, defines the websites as one that has a “substantial portion of content defined by the legislation as harmful.”
“It is assumed that a majority of entities will either stop publishing such content or will take steps necessary to meet the requirements of this legislation,” the bill’s fiscal note says. “However, it is assumed that the proposed legislation will result in one Class C felony conviction each year.”
Tennessee textbook commission hires first staff to prepare for school library book appeals
By Marta W. Aldrich | May 29, 2024, 6:00am CDT
Tennessee’s all-volunteer textbook commission is gearing up to consider new challenges to school library books after state lawmakers broadened the definition of what materials are prohibited.
Two years after the Republican-controlled legislature gave the commission broad new appellate powers to decide ultimately which books students can and can’t access in public school libraries, the panel has yet to receive its first case for review.
But that is expected to change. And for the first time, the commission will have its own full-time staff to support its growing workload, led by a recently retired school librarian from Crossville who formerly served on the commission.
Lee Houston, who has 30-plus years of experience as an elementary school teacher, coach, and librarian, became the body’s executive director in March.
The panel also hired an administrative assistant in early May and is seeking a full-time attorney.
With a potential flood of book challenges and appeals in a state that’s one of the nation’s leaders in banning books, Gov. Bill Lee and the legislature have budgeted $500,000 for the commission to staff up, plus another $55,000 for operational expenses, to help manage the significant expansion of its mandate.
Linda Cash, the commission’s chairperson, said the dedicated support is critical, especially as book complaints work their way through local school boards.
“We expect to start seeing some of those trickle up to us,” said Cash, superintendent of Bradley County Schools.
“I think everybody on the commission will take this very seriously and understands the weight and magnitude of any decision,” she added.
Books that some parents find objectionable could be removed statewide
Amid a nationwide backlash to the racial-justice movement that began in 2020, Tennessee was among the first states to pass laws aimed at restricting what teachers can discuss in the classroom and reviewing what books are available to students.
Themes about race and systemic racism, disparaged by hardline conservatives as “woke ideology,” were among early targets. But the range of censored content has widened to include narratives about sexual violence, LGBTQ+ topics, and transgender identities.
The American Library Association reports 350 titles were challenged in 2023 in school libraries or other public libraries across Tennessee.
The organization does not disclose where those challenges occurred, since much of the data comes from confidential reports from libraries. But based on various news reports, districts in McMinn, Roane, Rutherford, Sumner, Wilson, and Williamson counties, as well as Collierville near Memphis, have been hot spots.
Tennessee book challenges in 2023
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