U.S. Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Student in Social Media Case
Public school officials generally cannot punish students for off-campus social media posts, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a case involving a student punished for venting her frustration on Snapchat for not making the varsity cheerleading squad.
Brandi Levy – known in court papers by her initials B.L. – sued the Mahanoy Area School District after school officials suspended her for a year from the cheerleading squad after she posted a profane message on Snapchat one Saturday afternoon outside a convenience store.
Even though she made the post completely off-campus, school officials assumed they had the authority to discipline her for the off-campus post. But, the U.S. Supreme Court held differently in Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L.
In his majority opinion, Justice Stephen Breyer identified “three features” of off-campus speech that diminish the authority of school officials. These include that school officials rarely act in loco parentis with regard to off-campus speech, school officials cannot monitor student social media speech 24 hours a day, 365 days a year; and public schools have a duty to protect unpopular student speech.
“American’s public schools are the nurseries of democracy,” Breyer wrote in a memorably line. However, the Court did not say that school officials have not authority over any off-campus social media expression. The Court emphasized that harassing, bullying, or threatening speech might well produce a different result.
But, B.L.’s speech was the venting of frustrating, not an act of cyberbullying or a true threat.
Ultimately, it will take future litigation to determine the contours of the Supreme Court’s ruling. But, make no mistake about it ---- the Court’s decision sends a clear message to school officials to be wary about serving as the social media police.
David L. Hudson, Jr. teaches law at Belmont University College of Law and the Nashville School of Law. He is the author of The American Constitution 101 and Freedom of Speech: Understanding the First Amendment.
David L. Hudson, Jr., a Visiting Associate Professor of Legal Practice, teaches Legal Information and Communication at Belmont. He is the author, co-author, or co-editor of more than 40 books. For much of his career, he has worked on First Amendment issues. He serves as a Justice Robert H. Jackson Legal Fellow for the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education and a First Amendment Fellow for the Freedom Forum Institute. For 17 years, he was an attorney and scholar at the First Amendment Center in Nashville, Tennessee. Hudson has taught classes at Vanderbilt Law School and the Nashville School of Law. In June 2018, the Nashville School of Law awarded him its Distinguished Faculty Award. He earned his undergraduate degree from Duke University and his law degree from Vanderbilt Law School. Hudson also is a licensed boxing judge and has judged a dozen world title bouts.
