Sponsors (2)
The bill strengthens federal authority to deter and punish school threats and hoaxes—potentially improving safety and reducing disruptions—at the cost of expanding federal criminal jurisdiction, increasing federal caseloads and spending, and raising risks to free speech, proportionality, and local control.
Students, teachers, and school staff across public, private, religious, and all other school types gain stronger federal legal protection because threatening or hoaxing schools is made a federal crime (punishable up to 20 years), which should reduce dangerous communications and improve on-campus safety.
Schools, law enforcement, and affected communities benefit from federal jurisdiction that enables coordinated cross-state investigations and prosecutions, improving deterrence, enforcement consistency, and resource-sharing when threats or hoaxes cross state lines.
Students, parents, and school staff are likely to face fewer disruptive hoaxes and false reports—reducing school closures, lost instruction time, and childcare burdens for families—because false reports about incidents at schools are criminalized.
Taxpayers and the federal justice system will likely face increased caseloads and enforcement costs because more conduct becomes subject to federal prosecution under the expanded criminal statute.
Parents, students, teachers, and small or mistaken speakers risk criminal liability because broad or vague elements (e.g., 'malicious' or 'false information') and very high maximum penalties (up to 20 years) could result in prosecuting protected speech, accidental or ambiguous communications, or juvenile/low‑risk speakers — producing free-speech and proportionality concerns.
Local and state governments and courts may see cases shift to the federal system, potentially delaying prosecutions, complicating coordination with local authorities, and changing how quickly local harms are addressed.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Expands federal crimes to make threats, false information, and hoaxes about any covered school a felony punishable by fines and up to 20 years imprisonment.
Introduced September 26, 2025 by Michael Lawler · Last progress September 26, 2025
Makes it a federal crime to threaten or purposely spread false information or hoaxes about any public, private, or religious school that provides early childhood, elementary, secondary, postsecondary, or career and technical education (as determined by state law). Violations are punishable by fines and prison terms of up to 20 years. The bill expands existing federal threat and hoax statutes to explicitly cover schools of all types and raises the maximum statutory imprisonment for such covered threats to 20 years.