Levy v. Mahanoy Area High School - Student Free Speech

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

https://www.cnn.com

Supreme Court sides with high school cheerleader who cursed online

(CNN)The Supreme Court ruled in favor of a former high school cheerleader who argued that she could not be punished by her public school for posting a profanity-laced caption on Snapchat when she was off school grounds.

The case involving a Pennsylvania teenager was closely watched to see how the court would handle the free speech rights of some 50 million public school children and the concerns of schools over off-campus and online speech that could amount to a disruption of the school's mission or rise to the level of bullying or threats.

The 8-1 majority opinion was penned by Justice Stephen Breyer.

"It might be tempting to dismiss (the student's) words as unworthy of the robust First Amendment protections discussed herein. But sometimes it is necessary to protect the superfluous in order to preserve the necessary," Breyer wrote.

Breyer said that the court has made clear that students "do not shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression even 'at the school house gate.'"

"But," he said, "we have also made clear that courts must apply the First Amendment in light of the special characteristics of the school environment."

[bob]

Here's Mike D.'s explainer:

TL;DR: Although SCOTUS sided with the student, it punted.

[bob]

"For completeness":

In other words, the school board paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for the privilege of not punishing the student.

[Chilidog]

Who was the 1?

[Slim Cognito]

Thomas.

[zekeb]

Perhaps she won, but she'll be stuck on the JV squad for the rest of her HS days. I suspect that she won't return to cheerleading.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

She's in college now.