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Boy, 7, sues Pa. school district over suspension for novelty pen

Federal suit alleges Dauphin County district’s weapons policy is unconstitutional.

A 7-YEAR-OLD BOY, suspended after taking a novelty pen onto a school bus, has filed a federal suit against school officials in Dauphin County, alleging the district's weapons policy is unconstitutional.

Officials gave the boy a four-day suspension and branded him a "weapons offender" for possessing the pen, which emitted a small shock when the cap was pressed. The boy, identified in the suit as G.B., is a second-grader at Hershey Elementary School.

"Our main goal in this is to try to clear the young man's name and to get the policy tightened up so that people know what they're allowed to bring to school," said the boy's attorney, Aaron Martin of Kennett Square.

"A sharpened pencil is probably a more dangerous item than this pen was," Martin said.

The district did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Harrisburg, claims the boy is permanently classified as a violator of the Derry School District's weapons policy, his disciplinary record is permanently "marred," and he is "relegated to the same category as violent criminals who bring knives, guns and explosives onto school property for the purpose of assault, murder, and even terrorism."