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The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that a Pennsylvania high school violated the First Amendment rights of a cheerleader by punishing her for using vulgar language that criticized the school on social media.
The 8-1 opinion upheld lower court rulings against Mahanoy Area High School’s decision to suspend then-student Brandi Levy from her junior varsity cheerleading squad over two Snapchat posts she sent while off school grounds.
The justices had weighed whether a 1969 court decision, which held that public schools have the ability to regulate certain speech, applied in this case, when the speech had occurred off campus.
The decision Wednesday said “courts must be more skeptical of a school’s efforts to regulate off-campus speech, for doing so may mean the student cannot engage in that kind of speech at all.”
“The school itself has an interest in protecting a student’s unpopular expression, especially when the expression takes place off campus,” because “America’s public schools are the nurseries of democracy,” wrote Justice Stephen Breyer in the majority opinion.
Justice Clarence Thomas, who turned 73 on Wednesday, dissented.
Supreme Court rules for Pennsylvania cheerleader in school free speech case
The Supreme Court upheld First Amendment claims of cheerleader Brandi Levy, who was disciplined by a Pennsylvania high school for a critical Snap off campus.
www.cnbc.com
Supreme Court rules for Pennsylvania cheerleader in school free speech case
Excellent! Free speech, even speech deemed ugly, should be protected speech when expressed "off campus".