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Arizona teen's school suspension prompts lawsuit
A family in Arizona is suing a school district over the suspension of a student for an e-mail he never sent. The teenager typed out a threatening message on a school-issued laptop, and while he never sent it, an AI-based software alerted the district. FOX 10's Kenzie Beach reports.
MARANA, Ariz. - An Arizona family is suing a school district after it suspended a student for an email he never sent.
"Schools can only discipline students for speech off campus if that threat is a real threat, a credible threat, and here, that simply wasn't the case," said Aaron Baumann, an assistant teaching professor with the First Amendment Clinic at Arizona State University's Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law.
The backstory:
The Marana sophomore was at home with his mom typing what they claim were jokes. The lawsuit states the messages on the school-issued laptop read: "Skibidi toilet my grade is in the toilet," followed by "Gang gimme a better grade or I shoot up da skool homie."
The messages were deleted within seconds, but it was enough to alert Gaggle, an AI-based safety management software program activated by keystrokes.
"It was shocking to me and to my son, obviously, to realize that even the very keystrokes that are typed and deleted were monitored," said Karalee Merrill. "I think a lot of parents probably don't know that."
"Context has to matter. It can't just be a black and white no-tolerance policy," Baumann said. "An investigation has to be done to check for validity."
Dig deeper:
The Merrill family is suing the Marana School District, along with several staff members, for violation of the 1st and 14th Amendments.
"It's important that courts prevent the government here, a school district, from reaching into our homes, allowing our private speech to be regulated in a way that the Constitution protects and prevents," Baumann said.
Merrill says it was, "a mistake at our house where he can feel safe to make a mistake." She says since it happened in her home, the punishment should have as well.
The family did sign an agreement when receiving the school-issued laptop, but says it was not clear the extent of what and how much would be monitored.
The other side:
We reached out to the Marana School District about its process for analyzing school threats, and their response reads:
"We have been named in a lawsuit. While we understand there may be questions, we are unable to comment on active legal matters."