Lacey Township, NJ –-(Ammoland.com)- The New Jersey chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union is suing Lacey Township High School on behalf of two students that the school suspended for posting two pictures of legally owned guns on their social media.
Student Cody Conroy and another unidentified student shared two pictures of guns through the photo-sharing app Snapchat. The first picture was captioned “I know where I am going if there is a zombie apocalypse.”
The second picture that the students shared did not have a caption, but it seemed to be in response to the first picture that was shared. The parents of the students legally owned the guns in the photos and the students did not break any laws.
The students did not take or shared any of the photos at the school. The students took the photos at a firing range with their parents. The students also did not make any threats with the pictures yet once the school became aware of the photos from the outing both students received a five day in school suspension from the administration.
Initially, the school district claimed they did not suspend the two students because of the photo, but the school board refused to say why they chose to punish the two students. At a school board meeting back in March where parents of the students and others showed up to protest the punishment handed down to the pair it then became apparent that the school did issue the students in school suspension over the pictures.
The issue stems from the school’s Policy 5611 which is its “weapons” policy. School board attorney Chris Supsie said it was designed to align with the U.S. Secret Service Safe School Initiative which was put into place after Columbine and the New Jersey’s Zero Tolerance for Guns Act.
Supsie said that the policy is currently being re-written for clarity. The policy will now only apply to criminal activity involving a firearm, an illegally possessed gun, or a firearm taken onto school property or a school bus. It would no longer apply to firearms being used legally off school property.
The ACLU is claiming that Lacey Township High School violated the First Amendment right of the students by punishing them for a legal activity that took place away from the school.
“I’m filing this suit so that no one at my high school in the future has to feel like the First Amendment wasn’t meant to include them,” Cody Conroy said in the news release from the ACLU.
The lawsuit demands a statement from the district saying the school violated the constitutional rights of the students, removing the suspension from their permanent student records, a promise from the district not to discipline students for constitutionally protected speech outside of school, and revisions to school policies to reflect that promise.
The law firm Pashman Stein Walder Hayden will be representing the students in the court case along with the ACLU-NJ.
Lacey Township High School would not comment on the pending court case.
About John Crump
John is a NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. He is the former CEO of Veritas Firearms, LLC and is the co-host of The Patriot News Podcast which can be found at www.blogtalkradio.com/patriotnews. John has written extensively on the patriot movement including 3%’ers, Oath Keepers, and Militias. In addition to the Patriot movement, John has written about firearms, interviewed people of all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and is currently working on a book on leftist deplatforming methods and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss, on Facebook at realjohncrump, or at www.crumpy.com.
URGENT ALERT !!!! Chiapas, Mexico is now overrun by Africans and Haitians. They are intent on making it to the US border. In case you don’t know, the Africans make up a large percentage that turned Europe into a sh*thole. Now they are being imported by the human smugglers with promises of never ending welfare. Why doesnt “Mrs. Specter From Sweden” let them come live at her house ???
aclu!!! Defending 2nd Amendment and Gun Ownership rights??? Uh….. something smells of decaying fish around the back door!
The aclu’s track record of defending liberal and democratic clients all the while stuffing their offshore bank accounts just makes me more than apprehensive.
I don’t think I would want those communists defending me for anything.
You may want to check what your saying. The ACLU, while not always pleasing me, ALWAYS defended the Constitution. We may not like the defense or outcome but their attitude and aggressivemess was undeniable.
Before you jump on me, I’m not a lib or Dem. I’m a constitutional conservative. I’m apposed to many right wing ideas as well as left wing ideas.
Think about it, what made you “dislike” the ACLU years ago, are what we have similar views on now.
It is the *explicit* policy of the ACLU that the second amendment doesn’t give ordinary citizens the right to own guns. They literally say it plainly on their website, just Google for “ACLU second amendment”.
Is new jersey still in the USA? The school attorney and the school board need to move to their kind of country i.e. dictator type or maybe the city of Caracas can take them.
You said the magic word, New Jersey,. As far as our government thinks, there are not constitutional rights, especially the 2A. I have to check many times over if I have my gun stuff packed correctly and pee before I go to the range. (no stopping). NJ state troopers are renonded for violating CC rights. Violence and aggressivemess is their standard MO.
Yes I’m looking for a place move but last chance Idaho is looking pussish right now.
lacy township hs: NOOYMFB, AH. KTFO & STFU
commie school district a**holes in USA need to have their choke-chains yanked until it hurts.
The ACLU has been painfully wrong many times but this time they got it right.
What about their constitutionally protected rights in school?
I agree with everything, this is the liberal extreme. But I also believe you need to keep your personal business and your guns off of social media. You do not need to share this info with the idiots in this country, Nothing wrong with being proud, just smile and know when the SHTF you and your family are ready, It is coming!
@ Harold W. Price I fully agree with you. Those that brag about the guns they have are only inviting the peeping eyes that might be worse than a background check. Personal business should be kept off social media.
Since virtually everything on social media IS personal business, there wouldn’t be much point to having it. I have made many friends through social media who share the same interests as me, precision shooting and hand loading my own ammo. I have found some great products which help me with my interests on social media.
Yeah, Harold, I WISH I had some guns. I used to own some, but they fell out of my fishing boat a couple years ago, including the ones I had that were purchased from an FFL. And can’t afford to get any more. Dang it! Oh, well……
BUT…I still enjoy reading and commenting about this kind of stuff…..
Good to see ACLU actually fighting for the rights of American Citizens for a change. Let’s hope this trend continues.
Most folks condemn the ACLU, but give the devil his due. These guys back the Constitution and do something about it. Like it or not, I’d rather have them around than not. Like President Trump, I don’t always agree, but I’m sure glad he’s there.
If ACLU would stop fighting for the civil liberties of illegal aliens and focus on helping actual American citizens, as they did in this case, they would have a lot more fans.
@Gdubb, the ACLU was founded by two avowed communists. Their intent was to use the Rights of Americans against our system and destroy it. We should be suspicious of their motives, now.
Nice to see the ACLU stepping up. The parents should sue for damages as well.
Good ole Jersey. So glad I left there 36 yrs ago.
Yeah, I left NJ over 20 years ago. Don’t miss it much. If only I could get my aged parents to leave now…
Im not sure i trust them,they been against every thing a paitriot is for in the past.i see them supporting any type of firearms as i do kamilla harris NADA NO ‘ELL NO
Good to see this. There needs to be a tidal wave of this kind of legislation starting NOW.
This is the only way to push back against these tyrants, at this point. We cant let them get away with anything, that type of behavior got us where we are now.
sue these clowns into the ground
Outstanding, these guys are going to fight for their 1st Amendment Right because these buffoons suspended these kids after they posted pictures of themselves on social media legally and lawfully exercising their 2nd Amendment Right outside of any school function. No threats were issued, no violence was indicated. What’s next suspending children who bite their pop tart into the shape of a gun or if a child uses his fingers to look like a gun, i.e. sign language…. oops too late. Knee-jerk decisions made by these clowns should result in suspension with out pay.