M.C. Through Chudley v. Shawnee Mission Unified School District No. 512

Administrators of the Shawnee Mission Unified School District (school district) (defendant) learned that some students planned to participate in an organized national walkout to protest gun violence in schools. The school district informed parents that students would be permitted to participate in the protest without risking discipline but that the walkouts were optional and not sponsored by the school district. The school district issued a directive ordering building administrators to prohibit students from discussing guns, gun control, or school shootings during the protest. Instead, the school district encouraged students to address the topic of school safety. In response to this directive, on the day of the walkout, the assistant principal at Hocker Grove Middle School interfered with students’ speeches that addressed school shootings. The assistant principal warned students that they would be removed if they talked about shootings or deaths. An eighth-grade student (plaintiff) who helped organize the walkout at the middle school was interrupted when she began to speak about gun violence. An administrator ordered the student to step down from the speaking platform and the student complied. The assistant principal ended the event before the scheduled halfway point, directed the remaining 50 students to disperse, and pushed several students toward the school door. The assistant principal told the student speakers they were suspended or had detention. The students and their mothers (plaintiffs) brought suit in the district court and argued that the school district violated their free-speech rights under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The school district moved to dismiss the complaint.