A federal judge ruled against a woman who sued the Cabot School District for restricting her on-campus visits after she mused about gunning down a school librarian.
U.S. District Judge Lee Rudofsky, a conservative jurist, ruled Wednesday on Melissa “Missy” Bosch‘s 2022 lawsuit, also filed against Superintendent Tony Thurman and the city of Cabot.
In June 2022, an anonymous person posted a recording online of Bosch’s comments during a Moms for Liberty meeting in Cabot. In the record, the woman, who police later confirmed was Bosch, complains about a school librarian.
Accounts of Bosch’s exact statement vary slightly because the audio is at times hard to understand. But according to Rudofsky’s written ruling, Bosch said, “I’m telling you, if I was any mental issues, they would all be plowed down with a freaking gun by now because I have had it.”
Rudofsky rejected Bosch’s contention that the recording was doctored. “We know now that the audio clip was not spliced or otherwise altered, although it was only a small clip of a much longer meeting,” he wrote.
While he ruled against Bosch, Rudofsky seemed to be sympathetic to her plight. He called the lawsuit “primarily — though not exclusively — a First Amendment retaliation case.”
His primary reasoning for ruling against Bosch appeared to be that, he said, she failed to dispute many of the facts in the defendants’ statements. “Whether her failure to do so was a result of legal tactics or legal carelessness, it violated the clear rules of the road,” he wrote.
Bosch had alleged that limitations — but not a ban — on her visits to the campus violated her constitutional rights. She said the city, through its police department, “engaged in a conspiracy with the District to deprive her of her constitutional rights,” according to Rudofsky.
Further, the judge wrote, “It is undisputed that Ms. Bosch understood that there were no restrictions on her ability to drop off or pick up her children at school. And there is no evidence that Ms. Bosch has been unable to do so at her pleasure. Ms. Bosch has notified the District that she will attend her son’s football games and school board meetings. The District has never denied her access to the games or the meetings.”
Attorneys for Bosch asked the judge to reconsider his ruling, citing technical legal reasons.
Despite his decision, Rudofsky almost invited Bosch to appeal to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
“The Court wishes to emphasize that an appeal of this Order would be quite reasonable,” he wrote. “Were the Eighth Circuit to reverse on [a legal waiver] issue, the Court would likely move this case to trial on the First Amendment retaliation claim with respect to the purportedly threatening statement made by Ms. Bosch. It certainly seems like a reasonable jury could go either way on that issue.”
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