Can schools protect students without silencing them?
In this episode of Anatomy of a Lawsuit, Dhillon Law Group’s Karin Sweigart breaks down a groundbreaking case in Lawrence, Kansas, where students are suing their school district over its use of Gaggle, an AI surveillance tool that scans student emails, documents, and chats 24/7.
The students claim the system violates their First and Fourth Amendment rights — chilling free expression and blurring the line between school and home. We explore what happens when artificial intelligence becomes the hall monitor, and how courts may define the limits of student surveillance in the digital age.
Under Surveillance: Students vs. the Algorithm
When artificial intelligence becomes the hall monitor, the Constitution has something to say.
In this week’s episode of Anatomy of a Lawsuit, I break down a case that could redefine how we think about student rights in the age of AI. Students in Lawrence Public Schools, Kansas, have filed a lawsuit challenging their district’s use of an AI surveillance tool called Gaggle. The system monitors student emails, documents, and shared files 24/7 in the name of safety — but the students argue it goes too far.
As I explain in the episode, this case raises three major constitutional questions.
First, the First Amendment. AI monitoring can act as prior restraint — censorship before speech even happens. If students think an algorithm might flag their writing about mental health, politics, or social issues, they may stop expressing those ideas at all. That chilling effect is constitutionally significant.
Second, off-campus speech. The Supreme Court’s decision in Mahanoy v. B.L. held that schools have limited authority over what students say off campus. But when school-issued devices are being scanned overnight at home, that line starts to blur. Is that still “school speech,” or private speech?
Third, bias and viewpoint discrimination. If an algorithm flags journalism critical of administrators more often than praise, that’s viewpoint suppression — a clear First Amendment issue. And when students can’t see how the system makes decisions or appeal its findings, it raises the risk of government censorship through code.
At the heart of this case is a fundamental question: can schools protect students without silencing them?
The Lawrence lawsuit may become a landmark test of how the First and Fourth Amendments apply to AI in education. Because the Constitution doesn’t disappear when technology gets smarter.
You can listen to the full breakdown on Anatomy of a Lawsuit here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aY083bkKVf4
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/30VbyWjJzZQEiC3dwpZBNX?si=0hmAttO3TiSUhxj2B3ZEMA