Student Free Speech Delivered Off-Campus and Off-Hours

LEGAL BRIEF

Late one Saturday night, a high school student with too much time on his hands created a fake Instagram account that impersonated his biology teacher. The account’s content was fairly benign at first, but the student’s friends soon added posts of their own. The content became graphic, harassing and threatening.

School administration learned of the fake site and discovered the identity of the account’s creator. A 10-day suspension was imposed. The parents filed a lawsuit in the federal courts in Michigan, alleging the suspension violated their son’s rights under the First Amendment. The student’s conduct took place at home, and he used personal computer equipment. The courts nonetheless upheld the school district’s right to discipline him, and his constitutional claims were rejected.

A seminal 1969 U.S. Supreme Court decision (Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District) held that students do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of expression … at the schoolhouse gate.” But the court affirmed those rights are somewhat circumscribed in a school setting. Schools must create an effective and successful learning environment. As such, our legal system recognizes that school administration can regulate speech that materially disrupts learning, creates disorder or invades the rights of others.