The Tennessee General Assembly passed a bill this week that would amend the state’s controversial gang violence threat law, which has resulted in children being charged with felonies over jokes and misunderstandings.
Gov. Bill Lee is expected to sign the bill, which would require school officials to report student threats to police only if the threat is “credible,” meaning it could reasonably be expected to be carried out. Previously, school administrators who failed to report threats of gang violence could be charged with a misdemeanor.
The change came after pressure from advocates and an investigation by ProPublica and WPLN. Many of the children charged were students with disabilities and students of color. One of the youngest children charged with a felony last year was 6 years old.
In one case investigated by ProPublica and WPLN, an autistic teenager with an intellectual disability told his teacher that his backpack would explode if anyone touched it. Police only found a stuffed rabbit inside the room, but they arrested and charged him with threatening to commit gang violence. The child’s mother is now suing the school district. The case is ongoing.
Another family, ProPublica and WPLN later wrote about, won a $100,000 settlement against a public charter school in Chattanooga. Families claim in a federal lawsuit that the school mistakenly reported their 11-year-old autistic child to police.
Parents also filed a lawsuit against Williamson County Schools outside Nashville, alleging that their children were wrongly suspended and arrested for making threats of gang violence at school. The school board disputed the allegations in the court record and asked for the lawsuit to be dismissed. In an initial ruling, the judge said the family had a “legitimate claim” and allowed the case to proceed.
Sen. Ferrell Heil, a co-author of this year’s bill, said during a committee hearing in late March that he hopes it will prevent students with disabilities from being unnecessarily arrested for statements of “incompetence.”
He said he was inspired by the story of a disabled fifth-grader in his district who spoke out at school one day out of frustration. School police officers told families they do not want to arrest children, regardless of whether the threat is credible, but are required by law to do so. His boss charged the child with a felony.
“In some counties, it is standard practice to prosecute any threats, even if they are deemed not to be credible,” Heil said during the hearing.
Mr. Heil’s current position is a departure from his previous position and that of most other Tennessee Republicans, who until last winter had refused to support similar language. In fact, Haile has proposed a bill in 2025 that would expand the Felony Intimidation Act to even more places, including child care providers, preschools, and churches.
When a Democratic colleague asked him at the hearing if he would consider applying the felony only to people who intended to carry out the threat, Heil said no. He said last year that police and district attorneys, not principals or counselors, should be responsible for determining whether threats are credible.
Mr. Heil did not respond to a request for comment.
Advocates have praised recent changes to the law, but warn they are not a panacea. Tennessee law still does not require police to consider whether a threat is credible before charging or arresting a young person.
“This is not a complete solution to the threat of mass violence,” said Zoe Jamel, a children’s advocate at the nonprofit Rafah Institute. “This is a major step forward in demonstrating the Legislature’s intent that uncredible threats should not be prosecuted.”
