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Supreme Court Upholds High School Student's First Amendment Rights for Comments Away From Campus

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mystery-ak:
Supreme Court Upholds High School Student's First Amendment Rights for Comments Away From Campus
By Shipwreckedcrew | Jun 23, 2021 1:15 PM ET

In an 8-1 decision announced today, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of a high school student who posted obscene and derogatory messages on social media critical of officials at her high school, finding that the school’s suspension of the student for her actions violated her First Amendment right to free speech.  Justice Breyer wrote the majority opinion of the Court, with Justice Thomas casting the only dissenting vote.  As is often the case, Justice Thomas’s vote turns on what he sees as a failure by the majority to consider the historical record with regard to the scope of the First Amendment in the context of public education.

Plaintiff B.L. was a juvenile female at the time of the episode in question and was disappointed in not being selected to be a member of her high school’s varsity cheerleading squad.  During the following weekend, and while away from campus, B.L. posted two images on Snapchat of her making obscene hand gestures with vulgar captions about the decision that went against her.

When school officials learned of her social media activity, she was suspended from the junior varsity cheerleading squad for the upcoming year.  After failing to have her punishment reversed, her parents sued the school district in federal court based on a claim that B.L.’s social media activity was protected by the First Amendment from governmental sanction for its content.

The Court recognized and upheld the authority of schools to regulate conduct, including speech, that takes place on campus where words and action could be disruptive to the educational objectives or the rights of other students.  In that setting, the school occupies the standing of in loco parentis — or standing in place of the parents.

more
https://redstate.com/shipwreckedcrew/2021/06/23/supreme-court-upholds-high-school-students-first-amendment-rights-for-comments-away-from-campus-n401081

Cyber Liberty:
Thomas got this one wrong, and for the wrong reasons.

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