Supreme Court hears case on student speech rights in the social media age
On Tuesday, I wrote about
Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L., the high school free speech case the Supreme Court was about to hear. The Court heard the case yesterday. You can listen to the oral argument here.
It was a lively affair, as well it should have been given the tricky questions involved, and was well argued on both sides. The Court seemed sympathetic to B.L. who was suspended from cheerleading due to an obscene social media rant, off campus and on the weekend, issued after she failed to make the varsity.
29 Apr 2021
The U.S. Supreme Court heard a case Wednesday involving a student at Mahanoy Area High School in Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania, who was kicked off the school’s cheerleading team after taking to Snapchat to call out the school with profanities for allegedly telling her she needed to spend a year on the junior varsity (JV) team before making it to varsity while an incoming freshman student made it on the varsity team, skipping JV.
The student, known as “B.L.,” made the JV cheerleading team as a freshman, and was hoping to make varsity as a sophomore, only to be disappointed to again be placed in JV. Meanwhile, an incoming freshman made the varsity team, skipping JV entirely.
Tourists walk in front of the Supreme Court building in Washington, March 24, 2013. In their first-ever review of same-sex marriage laws, the nine justices on the country s highest court are hearing arguments on Tuesday and Wednesday on one of the most politically charged dilemmas of the day, bound with themes of religion, sexuality and social custom. | (Photo: REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a free speech case involving a Pennsylvania high school student who was kicked off her cheerleading team over a profanity-laced Snapchat message, a case advocates say has free speech implications for all students.