Yesterday the United States Supreme Court has sided with a student in a free speech with significant implications for both schools and students. The Supreme Court ruled in Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L. that a student’s yearlong suspension by the school from cheerleading for her off-campus expletive laced social media post violated the student’s right to free speech. Significantly for both schools and students, the court held that schools maintain regulatory interests over student speech in some off-campus circumstances. These include instances when speech “materially disrupts classwork or involves substantial disorder or invasion of the rights of others.” The court declined to set a bright line rule for when speech off campus speech may be regulated or what type of speech schools may restrict. The Supreme Court did intimate that schools may, in some circumstances, regulate off-campus student speech when said speech represents a substantial disruption to school activity.
The implications of Mahanoy for schools is that each instance of regulating off-campus student speech must be considered on a case-by-case basis. The content, method, and perhaps even the time and location of the speech may all be considered by a court when determining whether the school was justified in regulating the speech.
Bunger & Robertson attorneys have years of experience providing legal counsel to schools and school systems and are available to provide education law advice.