Jun 23, 2021, 8:14 PM
(from the Washington Post) The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled for a Pennsylvania cheerleader whose profane off-campus rant cost her a spot on the squad, saying the punishment violated her First Amendment rights. The court ruled 8 to 1 that the punishment was too severe, although it declined to say schools never have a role in disciplining students for off-campus speech. In its ruling, the court said that the school does have authority to police off-campus language that disrupts the school operations, but had not shown in this case that there was enough disruption to violate her First Amendment rights. First Amendment rights do not extend to private businesses or schools, but the ruling is helpful in that it sets a broad standard.
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