So 14-Year-Old Brandi Levy was very angry after not making the varsity cheer squad.
So she posted her displeasure to snapchat, flipping the bird and writing “F——— school f——— softball f——— cheer f——— everything.”
Another student saw the post, took a screenshot of it and showed it to her mother who was also one of the cheerleading coaches.
Levi was suspended from the JV cheer squad for the year.
She sued, and a federal appeals court ruled that because her message was posted off campus, she was beyond the reach of school authorities and for that reason could not be punished.
The school district along with the Biden administration said the court was wrong and school districts should be able to punish students for speech made off-campus.
A Biden Administration official says, “The First Amendment does not categorically prohibit public schools from disciplining students for speech that occurs off campus.”
Absolutely chilling.
Fortunately the ACLU has come out in support of speech and providing legal assistance to the Levi family.
ACLU’s Witold “Vic” Walczak warns that if school district have the power to punish students for comments made off-campus, “that is super dangerous. Not only would students like Brandi not be able to express non-threatening, non-harassing bursts of frustration, but it would give schools the possibility of regulating important political and religious speech”.
Brandi Levy, now 18, adds “I’m just trying to prove a point that young students and adults like me shouldn’t be punished for them expressing their own feelings and letting others know how they feel.”