Student’s Snapchat profanity leads to high court speech case
WASHINGTON (AP) Fourteen-year-old Brandi Levy was having that kind of day where she just wanted to scream. So she did, in a profanity-laced posting on Snapchat that has, improbably, ended up before the Supreme Court in the most significant case on student speech in more than 50 years.
At issue is whether public schools can discipline students over something they say off-campus. The topic is especially meaningful in a time of remote learning because of the coronavirus pandemic and a rising awareness of the pernicious effects of online bullying.
Arguments are on Wednesday, via telephone because of the pandemic, before a court on which several justices have school-age children or recently did.
Cheerleader s profane Snapchat could define free speech off-campus
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Brandi Levy, who was upset that she didn t advance from the junior varsity to the varsity cheerleading squad, was punished by her school after sending a profane Snapchat to 250 friends while she was hanging out at a local convenience store on a Saturday. Photo by Danna Singer/Provided by the ACLU
Some religious liberty groups are backing Brandi Levy, who is now 18, in her case, which is going before the U.S. Supreme Court. Photo by Danna Singer/Provided by the ACLU
April 28 (UPI) The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments Wednesday on whether a Pennsylvania student s First Amendment rights were violated when school officials punished her for making a profanity-filled social media post on a weekend.
U S Supreme Court hears case of Schuylkill County Cheerleader who was suspended from team for Snapchat post mcall.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mcall.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
LISTEN: Supreme Court hears oral arguments over free speech rights for studentsNation Updated on Apr 28, 2021 1:51 PM EDT Published on Apr 28, 2021 9:15 AM EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) A wary Supreme Court on Wednesday weighed whether public schools can discipline students for things they say off campus, worrying about overly restricting speech on the one hand and leaving educators powerless to deal with bullying on the other.
Listen to oral arguments in the player above.
The justices struggled to fit the need to protect students’ political and religious expression with the ability of schools to get at disruptive, even potentially dangerous, speech that occurs outside the school setting.