MONTGOMERY, N.Y., Dec. 12 (UPI) -- The parents of 10-year-old boy who allegedly threatened to blow up his school is suing the school district because he was suspended.
William Cuff's parents said the statement, scrawled in crayon on a school project at Berea Elementary School, was made in jest and that the suspension violated his right to free speech, the Times Herald-Record in Middletown, N.Y, reported Wednesday.
The federal suit claims the suspension was excessive because the child had no violent history and no way to actually bomb the school, the newspaper said.
Mike Hiestand, a Student Press Law Center attorney, said a 1969 court case give students have a right to free speech so long as the content is lawful and doesn't create a physical disturbance in school.
