The web page, which used a fake name but an actual photo of the principal, was purported to have been posted by an Alabama principal who described himself as a pedophile and sex addict. The internet address included the phrase “kids rock my bed.”
The principal and other students at Blue Mountain quickly became aware of it, discussing it at school the next day, according to testimony.
“Electronic communication allows students to cause a substantial disruption to a school’s learning environment even without being physically present. We decline to say that simply because the disruption to the learning environment originates from a computer located off campus, the school should be left powerless to discipline the student,” Judge Michael Fisher wrote in a footnote.
The ACLU did not immediately know if it would appeal, Walczak said.
Both 3rd Circuit panels upheld lower court decisions.
In the Mercer County case, U.S. District Judge Terrence McVerry had ruled that Hermitage School District officials failed to show then-senior Justin Layshock’s parody MySpace profile of his Hickory High School principal substantially disrupted school operations.
“The school’s right to maintain an environment conducive to learning does not trump Justin’s First Amendment right to freedom of expression based on the evidentiary record in this case,” McVerry wrote in a 2007 opinion. “Public schools are vital institutions, but their reach is not unlimited.”
Links:
3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
American Civil Liberties Union
See also: “Lawsuits test free speech in internet era”
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