Two families have filed a federal lawsuit against Tennessee Governor Bill Lee and the Williamson County School District, alleging that their middle school students were arrested, strip-searched, placed in solitary confinement, evaluated, and placed on house arrest after officials misinterpreted a Tennessee statute and claimed peer conversations were “threats of mass violence.”
Two unrelated August 2023 instances involving threatening speech by two students prompted the lawsuit. According to the lawsuit, the middle schoolers’ speech in the two incidents did not constitute a threat of mass violence or 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 how school officials applied Tennessee statute 39-16-517, a 2021 “zero tolerance” law that requires districts to expel students for one year if they make threats of mass violence on school property or at school-related events.
A fellow student accused 14-year-old B.N. of threatening to have a gun in his backpack, shoot up the school, and have a bomb at home on August 10, 2023. B.N. disputed the allegations.
The child stated he only mentioned guns to pals after a lunchtime talk with another boy who described his grandfather’s guns.
B.N. “was taken into custody for violating” the Tennessee statute labeled “Threat of Mass Violence on School Property,” the lawsuit alleged, after conversations with school officials and police.
The lawsuit alleged he was placed on a 24-hour solitary confinement hold and had to strip and change into jail clothes while an adult male guard faced away.
According to the lawsuit, B.N. was imprisoned for four days and placed under house arrest by his parents. He was “completely banned from any Williamson County School grounds,” the lawsuit alleged. Under zero tolerance, B.N. was suspended for 365 days.
After B.N. challenged the suspension, Williamson County Superintendent Jason Golden found that he had manufactured a rumor “of a threat of a weapon” at school and could return, even if the “joke caused a disruption in school,” according to court filings.
“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 consider you a threat. The lawsuit claimed that never happened.
Williamson County Schools said CNN in an email that it does not discuss pending litigation.
CNN has not heard from Governor Lee’s office.
“The new Tennessee zero tolerance law is being used as bludgeon against children who engage in innocuous conduct typical of all teenagers,” said families’ attorney Larry Crain to CNN.
Another occurrence occurred on August 22, 2023. The lawsuit claimed that Fairview Middle School officials considered H.M.’s 13-year-old text a “Threat of Mass Violence.”
The text in a school email group conversation claimed, “On Thursday, we will kill all the Mexicos.”
According to court filings, H.M.’s mother received the whole chat transcript, which showed other females ridiculing her for “looking Mexican because of her darker complexion.”
H.M. “responded in jest, ‘on Thursday we kill all the Mexico’s,’” the lawsuit alleged, when a friend inquired what she was doing on Thursday.
H.M. was arrested at school, taken to the Williamson County Juvenile Detention Center, strip searched, made to take a shower with a camera on her, and placed in a cell where she was questioned about having sex, abortion, or suicidal thoughts.
H.M. was suspended and ordered to be assessed for mental disorder. The lawsuit stated that she was offered voluntary or involuntary commitment to evaluate her competency to stand trial.
The lawsuit claimed the two students “suffered a severe and serious emotional injury” and were “unable to adequately cope with the mental stress” of their situations.
In his CNN interview, Crain said his office had learned of “several more children who have been wrongfully turned over to criminal prosecution” by the school district since filing the complaint.
He stated, “This lawsuit seeks to declare this new law unconstitutional as applied to innocent acts of these children.” “It also seeks compensatory damages against the school district for violating internal school board policies and routinely referring children for criminal prosecution.”
The 2022 study by Everytown for Gun Safety on how to stop school shootings and gun violence followed the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
The report urges significant action against gun violence in US schools and emphasizes proven methods. Most adolescents in crisis will never act violently and should not be treated like criminals. Tennessee’s “zero tolerance” policy “can end up punishing students who exhibit behavior that actually requires compassionate intervention,” the report states.
Everytown found that zero tolerance policies create a “threatening climate that instills fear and erodes student trust,” discouraging kids from sharing information about classmates. The analysis demonstrates that these practices have had a “profoundly negative effect” on students of color.
Everytown’s study states that “our recommended practice is the opposite of ‘zero tolerance’ and should not use exclusionary discipline or punitive or criminal justice approaches.”
