Ars Technica reported that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld a lower court decision to prohibit a high school student from being reelected as student secretary and from being able to speak at graduation, after posting a blog that named her school officials “douchebags.” The student and her mother initiated the law suit because they believed the school had violated her First Amendment rights.
“The Court of Appeals noted that adults may have a constitutional right to use vulgar or offensive speech in order to make a point, but that it ‘may legitimately give rise to disciplinary action by a school’ if a school is responsible for ‘teaching students the boundaries of socially appropriate behavior. Although Avery made her statements off school grounds and outside of school hours, they were related to school activities and ultimately caused some level of disruption of the school setting.”
“Avery’s position as secretary was also considered a ‘privilege’ that could be rescinded at any point, the court said, especially since her actions apparently undermined the values of the student government as an extracurricular activity.”
