US Supreme Court sides with cheerleader over social media post 'First Amendment did not allow public schools to punish students for speech outside school grounds' The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that a Pennsylvania school district had violated the First Amendment by punishing a student for a vulgar social-media message sent away from school grounds. The vote was 8 to 1, with Justice Clarence Thomas dissenting. Advertisement The case concerned Brandi Levy, a Pennsylvania high school student who had expressed her dismay over not making the varsity cheerleading squad by sending a colourful Snapchat message to about 250 people. She sent the message on a Saturday from the Cocoa Hut, a convenience store popular with teenagers. It included an image of Levy and a friend with their middle fingers raised, along with a string of words expressing the same sentiment. Using a swear word four times, Levy objected to “school”, “softball”, “cheer” and “everything”.