California: Students to appeal decision in ban of American flag T-shirts

A federal judge ruled that Live Oak High School administrators in Morgan Hill were with their rights to ban the wearing of American flag T-shirts during Cinco de Mayo. The judge determined that the administration had met the substantial disruption standard of the Supreme Court decision, Tinker v. De Moines, and had acted to ensure [...]

Pennsylvania schools want U.S. Supreme Court to clarify issues involving student speech on Internet

Two Pennsylvania school districts have petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for a review of decisions holding that the schools violated the First Amendment rights of students by punishing them for criticizing their principals on the social media. There are several issues the school want addressed including whether the schools can regulate off-campus speech including vulgarities [...]

Online posting: Student speech subject to greater regulation after Supreme Court refuses to hear case

The U.S. Supreme Court left standing a lower court ruling supporting the punishment of a high school student for criticizing a decision by school officials in a vulgar online posting. By ruling not to hear the case, the Court sidestepped an opportunity to establish guidelines for regulation of student speech in social media forums. -db [...]

Censorship ‘sucks’

Writing for the First Amendment Center, David L. Hudson Jr. explains why he hates school censorship. It stemmed from an classroom experience in a private high school in Tennessee. Hudson made the mistake of saying “the Celtics suck” in class and was punished for it even though his friend had used a far worse profanity [...]

Author recounts 60s battle for free expression in high school

Author Mike Marqusee clashed with administrators at Scarsdale High School in New York in 1968 first over a request to register the radical Students for a Democratic Society as a club and later over student-initiated teacher evaluation forms. He was suspended from school for distributing the forms. Marqusee says freedom of expression in schools allows [...]

Minnesota court invokes Tinker in upholding punishment of student for off-campus speech

In one of the first cases concerning off-campus speech of college students, the Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled that the University of Minnesota was justified in disciplining a former student in the mortuary program for her Facebooks posts in 2009. The university claimed the student violated the student code of conduct and gave her a [...]

New York: Student speech rights set back by federal appeals court ruling against high school blogger

A New York federal appeals court delivered a double whammy to student free speech rights in ruling that a high school administration could punish Avery Doninger for statements in her off-campus blog and subsequently for wearing a “Team Avery” T-shirt at a school assembly to protest the earlier punishment. The ruling focused on the issue [...]

Washington: High school student suspended for abandoning school-approved speech

A high school sophomore from Edmonds, Washington, running for student government, was suspended for a day and a half after he substituted his own speech for a school-approved one. The student had urged students to boycott the election since student government officers were puppets of the teachers and had no real power. The boy’s mother [...]

Hazelwood applied to college nursing student’s criticism of classroom practices

A federal judge applied Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier to a free speech case at the university level much to the dismay of First Amendment advocates. The judge upheld the dismissal of a nursing student at Auburn University at Montgomery for criticizing the nursing school’s disciplinary system. The judge later reconsidered her decision, modifying it to protect [...]

Media law expert questions college ban on athletes’ tweets

Public and private universities are increasingly limiting players’ use of social media that one expert says constitutes in most cases illegal prior restraint and a violation of their free speech rights. -db Citizen Media Law Center Commentary November 9, 2010 By Eric P. Robinson An exercise we did Friday at University of Nevada, Reno’s High School [...]

Student First Amendment rights get lost in school’s policing of off-campus postings on social media

A blogger from the Citizen Media Law Project argues that school authorities are over reaching in many instances in punishing students for off-campus speech. In many instances the speech has no disruptive effect on the school or falls short of creating a hostile school environment. -db Citizen Media Law Project Commentary March 17, 2010 By Justin [...]

Judge allows suit to go forward on student Facebook posting

A Florida student is suing her principal for suspending her after she posted a Facebook page calling her Advanced Placement teacher “the worst teacher I’ve ever met.” -db The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press February 17, 2010 By Amanda Becker A federal magistrate said this week that a former Florida high school student [...]

State supreme court rejects ‘ownership’ argument in dismissing defamation claim against Facebook

The New York Supreme Court ruled for Facebook in a suit brought by a student against former high school classmates and their parents after the classmates  had posted on Facebook alleged false and defamatory statements about her. The court held that Facebook was protected under the Communications Decency Act, did not own the defamatory content [...]

Judge overturns expulsion of student for online posting

Avoiding the First Amendment issues, a judge ruled that a University of Louisville nursing student could not be expelled for her blog post which the university said had violated the nursing Honor Code and the childbirth course Confidentiality Agreement. -DB Citizen Media Law Project August 12, 2009 By Lee Baker Once again, the powers that [...]