— In Florida, the District Court of Appeal of Florida held that parents of a student killed in the campus shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School could not sue the shooter’s mental health provider for negligence. The court ruled that the parent’s theory of liability was undermined by Florida law that a criminal attack on third parties by an outpatient mental health patient is not within the foreseeable zone of risk created by the mental health provider. Florida law does not recognize a duty of mental health providers to warn third parties that a patient may be dangerous. This is because of “the inherent unpredictability associated with mental illnesses and the near-impossibility of accurately or reliably predicting dangerousness.” (Pollack v. Cruz)
— In New York, the United States District Court, ruled that educators did not violate the law by suspending a student for making threatening posts on social media. The court held that the student’s social media posts constituted a reasonable risk of a substantial disruption under the Tinker standard, where the student had previously been suspended for allegedly intimidating a teacher during class, made many social media posts indicating his opinion that the school was unfair, racist, or evil, one of student’s posts depicted an unknown woman handling a gun, many of the student’s classmates could view the posts, and in fact classmates and parents approached multiple school officials and expressed concern for student safety after viewing the posts. (Spero v. Vestal Central School District)
— In New Jersey, the United States District Court, ruled that school officials’ search of a student’s sketchbook, person, and belongings was justified and did not violate Fourth Amendment. The court said that educators had reasonable suspicion because (1) the student drew a weapon, (2) the student bought weapons to school in the past, and (3) the search was done in privacy of vice principal’s office. (K.J. v. Greater Egg Harbor Regional High School District Board of Education).
— In Indiana, Noblesville police officers will be equipped with upgraded body cameras that detect gunshots.