A Cabot woman who was banned from entering Cabot Public School property after a recording of her talking about school shootings was posted on social media has been given an early 2024 court date for a jury trial in her lawsuit against the school district, the superintendent and the city of Cabot.
According to court records, U.S. District Judge Lee Rudofsky, to whom the case is assigned, set a trial date of Feb. 6, 2024, to give Melissa "Missy" Bosch her day in court regarding her complaint against Superintendent Tony Thurman, the Cabot School District and the city of Cabot initially filed last July.
According to the complaint, Bosch claimed she attended a Moms for Liberty meeting at Crossroads Cafe in Cabot on June 9 to discuss school board candidates and other matters. Four days later, someone anonymously posted a 30-second audio clip to Facebook she said was taken out of context to make it sound like she was talking about shooting up a school. Bosch was said to have expressed frustration with a school librarian, but in a hand-written statement dated June 13 to Cabot Police, she wrote that the people at the meeting were talking about school security and "hypotheticals -- shootings, getting into classrooms through doors propped open, etc."
"I said something about how the school board and superintendent have been so mean and hateful to us that without being mentally healthy we could 'just shoot them up,' but it's important that background checks, mental health, etc., need to be checked if anyone conceal-carries around kids," wrote Bosch. "This audio was secretly taped and spliced and put on social media. An anonymous person posted this and put a spliced audio that sounded like I was going to 'shoot a librarian.'" Bosch wrote that she was being harassed because of the out-of-context audio online.
According to a Cabot Police Department incident report dated June 14, Bosch said, "If I had any mental issues they would all be plowed down with a gun by now." It said the leaked comment was not made in the context of a threat and Bosch was not charged in the incident. The report said Thurman told police that Bosch "has been very outspoken at school board meetings" and that "due to her conduct, he was concerned about the comment on the recording."
Although Bosch was cleared of any wrongdoing, she said in her original complaint and an amended complaint filed in September a letter from Thurman told Bosch she was barred from all Cabot School District property unless she gives 24-hour advance notice.
"The District will not tolerate threats against students or staff," Thurman wrote in the letter. "Effective immediately, you are not permitted on Cabot School District property except to attend to the affairs of your children. You will be able to drop off and pick up your children from school." But according to the letter, Bosch must notify school officials 24 hours in advance if she plans to attend any meetings or events on campus.
"Failure to follow the directives of this letter will constitute trespassing, and we will request the assistance of local police for enforcement and legal action," wrote Thurman.
In her complaint, Bosch said banning her from school property illegally restricted her ability to "spontaneously" attend school functions, to have lunch with her child, pick her child up or drop her child off at school, or, should her child be injured or should a school shooting occur, "she cannot come to the school to retrieve or protect her child." The complaint accused Thurman and the school district of singling Bosch out because of her attendance at a "meeting of conservative mothers concerned about their children's education," and because she was considering running for a seat on the school board.
In an answer to Bosch's complaint dated Oct. 10, Thurman and the Cabot School District noted that Bosch no longer has children attending school in the Cabot School District, "'which obviates the need for Plaintiff 'to have lunch with her child ... drive her child to school ... retrieve her child from the school ... protect her child ... [or to participate] in her child's educational [and] extra-curricular activities.'"
Bosch claimed in the complaint that the actions of Thurman, the Cabot School District and the city of Cabot infringed upon her rights of freedom of speech and freedom of assembly as well as her rights to due process, equal protection and to privileges and immunities under the U.S. Constitution.
Thurman, the Cabot School District and the City 0f Cabot, in court filings, have denied any wrongdoing in the matter.
The conservative Moms for Liberty group is a 501(c)(4) tax-exempt organization with chapters in 44 states. It has led campaigns against mask mandates and covid-19 vaccinations in schools and has been active in attempts to remove books and curriculum from schools that address sexuality, LGBTQ rights, racism or discrimination. Proponents say the group champions the rights of parents in directing the education of their children, while critics maintain it deepens divisions among parents and makes it more difficult for school districts to educate students.
Bosch is represented in the lawsuit by attorneys Chris Corbitt of Little Rock, Clint Lancaster of Benton, and Robert Steinbuch of Conway. Thurman and the Cabot School District are represented by George Jay Bequette Jr. and William Cody Kees of Little Rock. The city of Cabot is represented by Arkansas Municipal League attorney Sara Monaghan.
Information for this article was contributed by Bill Bowden of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.