Free speech, Bullying, and the Complicated Case of the Pennsylvania Cheerleader | The New Yorker
The story of Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L. began when Brandi Levy, a high-school freshman in eastern Pennsylvania, was passed over for the varsity cheerleading team. Levy took to Snapchat to express frustration, posting a photo of herself and a friend giving the middle finger, with the caption Fuck school fuck softball fuck cheer fuck everything. She added, in another post, Love how me and [another student] get told we need a year of jv before we make varsity but that s doesn t matter to anyone else?=C Levy was apparently referring to the fact that an incoming freshman was put on the varsity team. According to a coach, some students who saw the posts were visibly upset and found them inappropriate. Levy was suspended from cheerleading for a year for violating the team s rules, which require that students have respect for the school, coaches, and teammates, avoid foul language and inappropriate gestures, and refrain from sharing negative information regarding cheerleading, cheerleaders, or coaches . . . on the internet. The coaches as well as the school district also maintained that she violated a school rule that athletes must conduct themselves during the season in such a way that the image of the Mahanoy School District would not be tarnished in any manner. Levy, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, filed a lawsuit, alleging that her suspension from the team violated the First Amendment. Last week, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case, which the Justices understood not only to raise the question of whether public schools may discipline students for speech outside of the school-supervised setting but also to implicate public schools power to punish students for discrimination, harassment, and bullying.