Lawsuit challenges zero tolerance policies for 'threats of mass violence' in schools

Two families in Tennessee’s Williamson County school district have filed a federal lawsuit against Gov. Bill Lee and the Williamson County Board of Education after two students were arrested and suspended for “threats of mass violence.”

The lawsuit challenges how Williamson County education officials enforced the 2023 "zero tolerance" law, which requires districts to expel students for one year over comments that could be considered credible threats of mass violence. The plaintiffs allege that two middle school students were detained, strip-searched, put in solitary confinement, sent to an alternative school, and visited by social workers and probation officers after district officials misinterpreted jokes and conversations as serious threats.

Larry Crain, the attorney representing the families, told Tennessee Firefly that he believes school officials overreacted and misapplied the law. He hopes the lawsuit will lead to more “common sense” applications of the law and change how such issues are handled by school districts.

“The case has generated a lot of attention both locally and nationally because there's an increased emphasis today on the part of many school systems to take drastic measures. I think what [started] a lot of this was the Covenant School shooting [in Nashville] in March of last year, but the problem is the statute criminalizes trivial speech that is common to adolescents,” Crain said. “These are kids that are honor roll students with no prior disciplinary records, and this is happening all over the state of Tennessee. We've been inundated with calls from families across the state.”

According to court documents cited by Tennessee Lookout, the case centers on two incidents involving a 13-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy. The boy was accused of saying he would bring guns to school and had a bomb at his home, despite his claim that he was only discussing a lunchtime conversation with another student about his grandfather’s firearms. In the case of the 13-year-old girl, school administrators cited a group chat message where she jokingly said, “On Thursday, we will kill all the Mexicos,” as the basis for her punishment. A transcript of the chat revealed that the remark was in jest, following teasing from other students about her appearance.

Crain believes there are many more cases in Tennessee where students face unjust punishment for similar behavior. His view aligns with youth advocates who argue that zero tolerance policies could lead to unnecessary expulsions and criminal charges against K-12 students.

“It's almost as though there's strict liability for anything involving buzzwords. I’m empathetic to the fact that school security has become a huge issue, and there are shootings almost every day somewhere in the country, but you don't come at a gnat with a mallet when there are other sound ways of addressing it,” Crain noted, adding that the case is still in the early stages of litigation.

Gov. Bill Lee and Williamson County Schools officials were unavailable for comment on the lawsuit.