On the heels of two conflicting federal rulings on the limits of students’ online, off-campus speech comes another case that rules in favor of a student’s expression of her opinions on Facebook.
The latest ruling centers around Katherine Evans, now 20, who was suspended from her Florida high school when she was a senior for cyberbullying her teacher on Facebook two years ago, reports wired.com. Evans create the group “Ms. Sarah Phelps is the worst teacher I’ve ever met!,” which featured a photo of the teacher and an invitation for students to express their disdain for the educator.
Court officials ruled in favor of Evans, stating that the group expressed an opinion of the student that was published off-campus that did not cause any disruption on campus premises. Furthermore, the group did not feature any behavior deemed lewd, threatening, vulgar, illegal or dangerous.
The decision came two weeks after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit offered differing opinions on two similar cases involving Pennsylvania schools. In Layshock v. Hermitage School District, the three-judge panel ruled in favor of Justin Layshock, a student at Hickory High School (Hermitage, Pa.), who created a phony MySpace page for the school’s principal, alleging that the administrator used drugs.
The second case, J.S. vs. Blue Mountain School District, went against the 14-year-old female middle school student, who created a MySpace profile alleging that her principal was a sex addict and a pedophile.
For additional information, click here.
