Doubtful Threats and the Limits of Student Speech Rights
Public school authorities are charged with occasionally conflicting missions, including the promotion of academic learning, independent thought, personal responsibility, and a measure of orderliness. Conflicts among these values often take the form of what that Article refers to as quot;doubtful threats,quot; in which the threat is reasonable judged, under the circumstances, to be unlikely to be carried out, and at a minimum to lack the element of imminence. Often, courts adjudicate such cases by finding a quot;substantial disruptionquot; under Tinker. Among the Article's conclusions is that candor and transparency suggest that the courts should instead shift the focus in such cases from quot;disruption,quot; as defined in Tinke, to something more akin to quot;distraction.quot; While a focus on distraction is not endorsed by the language of Tinker, such a focus is both more accurately descriptive of the circumstances in many of the doubtful threat cases and at least equally faithful to a sensible balancing of the public schools' basic civic and educational missions