In the fall of 2006, D.J.M. was a 10th grade student in the public school system in Hannibal, Missouri. On October 24 of that year, D.J.M. sent a series of messages to a fellow classmate, C.M., over an instant messaging platform. The messages allude to D.J.M.'s ability to obtain a gun, and during the conversation D.J.M. speculates as to who he would shoot and who he would not amongst his peers. Both D.J.M. and C.M. show amusement and levity during the conversation, frequently adding interjections such as "haha" and "lol."

At some point during the conversation, C.M. became concerned and sent a transcript of the messages to an adult, who in turn contacted the principal of the high school. The principal called the district superintendent, who in turn called the police. The police visited D.J.M. that same evening, and placed him in juvenile detention; D.J.M. was later transferred to a hospital for psychiatric evaluation. He remained under hospital supervision until November 28, 2006.

In the interim, the school district placed D.J.M. under a suspension for the rest of the school year. D.J.M.'s parents appealed the suspension to the Hannibal school board, who affirmed the suspension. D.J.M. returned to high school the following year, and graduated ahead of the rest of his class.

On March 14, 2007, D.J.M. brought suit in Missouri state court, alleging that the suspension of D.J.M. violated his First Amendment right to free speech under 42 U.S.C. 1983, and requesting administrative review of the suspension determination under state law. The case was removed to the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri in November 2008.

On January 25, 2010, the district court granted summary judgment for the defendant school distrcit on the section 1983 claim, and remanded the state law claim to the Missouri circuit court. The district court found the messages communicated by D.J.M. to be a "true threat" under Watts v. United States, as applied in the school setting by an en banc panel the Eighth Circuit in Doe v. Pulaski County Special School District. In the alternative, the court found authority for the school to punish the student, notwithstanding the First Amendment, under the "substantial interference" test in the student-speech line of cases following Tinker v. Des Moines.

The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court on August 1, 2011. The court affirmed under both the "true threat" rationale, as examined under Doe, and under the "substantial interference" grounds of Tinker. The court expressly rejected D.J.M.'s claim that the question as to whether the threat was a "true threat" is an issue of material fact. The court also allowed the "substantial interference" test of Tinker to be applied off campus, following the Second Circuit in Wisniewski v. Weedsport Central School District.

In January 2009, Butler University filed a "John Doe" defamation lawsuit against the pseudonymous author of the TrueBU blog, who signed his posts "Soodo Nym." The author later was identified as Butler University student Jess Zimmerman.

The complaint alleged that Soodo Nym defamed the University and two of its administrators in at least five blog posts from October to December 2008. The posts criticized school officals in connection with the decision to dismiss the chair of the school's music department (who happens to be Zimmerman's stepmother). Specifically, the complaint cited the following statements, among others, as allegedly defamatory:

• "Peter Alexander, Dean of the JCFA, is power-hungry and afraid of his own shadow.  He drives away talented administrators. He frustrates students within the departments.  He hurts the ability of the school to recruit talented students and faculty members.  He announces to the campus that the Butler Way, the ideals for which the school and everyone at it stands, means nothing." ¶ 17.

• "Dean Alexander has misused his authority, is paranoid, and is unequivocally a poor leader of an otherwise promising college with Butler University.  Need more be said?  He says one thing and does another. . . .  [Dean Alexander] cannot deal with disagreements or conflict and instead uses the brute force of his authority as Dean to dictate what happens within the JCFA." ¶ 23.

• "Dr. Comstock 'doesn't seem to care much for student opinion,' is 'unwilling to work with students unless she can see how the relationship will directly benefit her,' and seems to 'have some illusions of grandeur and a love for the power of her position.'" ¶ 11.
  

According to an October 13 statement from Butler President Bobby Fong, the school requested permission from the court in February and April to issue subpoenas seeking the blogger's identity.  In both cases, the court granted the request and issued the subpoenas.  (It does not appear from the record whether Zimmerman had notice of the subpoena requests or intervened to object.) According to Fong's statement, information obtained through the subpoena process led to Zimmerman. (Zimmerman says that the University told him it had proof he was Soodo Nym back in January.) In October, Zimmerman came forward publicly as the author of the blog, which had ceased operations on January 1 in response to the university's threat of a lawsuit.

On October 27, President Fong issued another statement, indicating that Butler had dropped the lawsuit and would "deal with Jess Zimmerman through the internal disciplinary process."

Mandi Jackson, a former cheerleader at Pearl High School, filed a lawsuit against Tommie Hill, her former cheerleading coach, and other school officials, claiming that Hill and other teachers punished and humiliated Jackson after accessing and disseminating the content of private conversations from her Facebook account.

Jackson alleges in her eight-count complaint that on September 10, 2007, Hill requested that she turn over her password to her Facebook account. Compl. ¶ 41. Jackson claims that she never accessed Facebook from a school computer or on school property. Compl. ¶ 42. On that same day, Hill "breached Jackson's Facebook" and "disseminated [her information] to fellow . . . teacher . . . Tiffany Durr, cheer trainer Corey Byrd, Principal Ray Morgigno, Superintendant John Ladner, and other unknown individuals." Compl. ¶¶ 43-44.

Jackson claims that Hill, Durr, Byrd, Morgigno, and Ladner "publicly repremanded, punished and humiliated [her] for a private discussion between [her] and another . . . student on Facebook." Compl. ¶ 45.  Her punishment including being "forced to sit out of cheer and dance training and [to] refrain from participation at school sponsored events." Compl. ¶ 46.

Jackson contends that Hill and the other school employees violated her rights to privacy, to free association, to free speech, and to due process. Further, Jackson claims that Hill and other school employees engaged in the intentional infliction of emotional distress, cruel and unusual punishment, defamation, and conspiracy.