A Virginia student may proceed with a lawsuit asserting his public high school violated his rights by suspending him for discussing the 2018 Parkland, Florida, school shooting, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has ruled.
Student Jonathan Starbuck filed the lawsuit against the Williamsburg James City County School Board, claiming the suspension violated his First, Fifth and 14th amendments. U.S. District Judge Mark S. Davis of the Eastern District of Virginia said Monell v. Department of Social Services barred the suit and dismissed Starbuck’s complaint for failure to state a claim, the appellate court’s March 15 opinion said.
