US Supreme Court grapples with free speech case involving cheerleader s foul-mouthed social media post
By Reuters
Andrew Chung
US Supreme Court justices on Wednesday wrestled with whether public schools can punish students for what they say off campus in a case involving a former Pennsylvania cheerleader s foul-mouthed social media post that could impact the free speech rights of millions of young Americans.
The nine justices heard nearly two hours of arguments in an appeal by the Mahanoy Area School District of a lower court ruling in favour of Brandi Levy that found that the US Constitution s First Amendment guarantee of freedom of speech bars public school officials from regulating off-campus speech.
The justices seemed unconvinced that students’ off-campus speech should be regulated.
WASHINGTON (CN) Hearing the case of a cheerleader kicked off of her high school squad over a profane Snapchat post, U.S. Supreme Court justices asked attorneys hypothetical questions Wednesday to parse out what types of speech schools can regulate.
In 1969, the high court ruled in
Tinker vs. Des Moines Independent Community School District that students had a right to wear black armbands in protest of the Vietnam War but said such protests could be regulated on-campus if they are disruptive to school functions. But Wednesday’s hearing centered on the issue of whether schools can regulate speech outside of school grounds.
By Andrew Chung (Reuters) - U.S. Supreme Court justices on Wednesday will consider whether public schools can punish students for what they say off ca.
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U.S. Supreme Court justices heard arguments on Wednesday on whether public schools can punish students for what they say off campus in a case involving a former Pennsylvania cheerleader’s foul-mouthed social media post that could impact the free speech rights of millions of young Americans.
The nine justices are considering an appeal by the Mahanoy Area School District of a lower court ruling in favor of Brandi Levy that found that the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment guarantee of freedom of speech bars public school officials from regulating off-campus speech. The arguments were ongoing.
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(Reuters) - U.S. Supreme Court justices on Wednesday will consider whether public schools can punish students for what they say off campus in a case involving a former Pennsylvania cheerleader’s foul-mouthed social media post that could impact the free speech rights of millions of young Americans.
FILE PHOTO: Brandi Levy, a former cheerleader at Mahanoy Area High School in Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania and a key figure in a major U.S. case about free speech, poses in an undated photograph provided by the American Civil Liberties Union. Danna Singer/Handout via REUTERS
The nine justices are set hear arguments in an appeal by the Mahanoy Area School District of a lower court ruling in favor of Brandi Levy that found that the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment guarantee of freedom of speech bars public school officials from regulating off-campus speech.