School threats not protected by First Amendment, court says

A federal appeals court has ruled in favor of a Missouri school district that suspended a student who made threatening statements during an online chat with another student.

The 8^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said today that, although the student says the statements were not a true threat, the district did not violate his First Amendment rights by reporting the comments to the police.

In a series of instant message chats in 2006, the 10^th grade student, identified by his initials “D.J.M.” in the opinion, talked to a friend about shooting several students at the Hannibal High School. The friend informed an adult, who took the alleged threats to district officials.

“The First Amendment did not require the District to wait and see whether D.J.M.’s talk about taking a gun to school and shooting certain students would be carried out,” Judge Diana E. Murphy wrote for the three-judge panel.

The young man was taken into custody, and the district later suspended him for the year. He has since graduated.

The case is D.J.M. et al. v. Hannibal Public School District #60, 10-1428.