Can Schools Discipline for Off-Campus Speech? The U.S. Supreme Court Weighs In
The U.S. Supreme Court has just released a highly anticipated opinion in the case of a Pennsylvania high school cheerleader who was suspended from the team for profanity about the team that was posted to Snapchat on the weekend. (If you are new to Mahanoy v. B.L., see my previous posts here and here.) We […]
More Insight about the School’s Ability to Respond to Off-campus Threatening Speech
Schools across the United States continue to grapple with the question of when they can intervene in off-campus incidents that impact the school environment. A case recently decided by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals examined this issue once again. In January of 2011, Taylor Bell, an Itawamba Agricultural High School (Mississippi) senior, posted a […]
Minnesota’s New Bullying Law and the Ability of Educators to Respond to Off-Campus Bullying
On April 9th Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton signed into law the “Safe and Supportive Minnesota Schools Act” which, among other things, updates the state’s anti-bullying legislation. The previous version of the law, last updated in 2007, was much maligned as being among the “worst in the nation.” I’m not sure that designation is accurate, but […]
Can a School Respond to Off-Campus Cyberbullying?
We discuss the legal issues associated with schools responding to cyberbullying incidents quite often in this space. You can find many blog posts which attempt to clarify the variety of issues raised (see here and here) and we have a summary fact sheet that is available here. Of course the law, and our understanding of […]
Third Circuit Court weighs in on conflicting cases involving off-campus online speech by students
As we have discussed several times on this blog in recent years, there are two cases that addressed issues with off-campus online speech by students that resulted in seemingly conflicting responses by the same court. They potentially have implications for how schools can respond to cyberbullying incidents, so are important to follow. To refresh your […]
3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Set to Clarify School Reach in Off-Campus Online Speech
Blue Mountain School District v. J.S. and Layshock v. Hermitage School District. These are two cases that we have discussed quite frequently on this blog. We have been waiting a long time to receive clarification from a high court regarding the circumstances under which schools can discipline students for their off-campus online speech and we […]
Jamming cell-phone signals on school campuses…
This article from British Columbia refers to a high school principal who bought a cell phone signal jammer from an online dealer in China in order to thwart students from using their phones at school in violation of district policy. First off, hats off to the resourcefulness of the principal in this situation – even though […]
JuicyCampus.com and the response by schools
My local newspaper just ran a story on JuicyCampus.com and asked me about it (since it could be considered cyberbullying), and so I figured I’d share a few of my thoughts here. First, the fact that college students are flocking to the site to read and write highly-offensive gossip about others is a sad commentary […]
Bullying Laws in Georgia
Georgia Code Title 20. Education § 20-2-751.4 (a) As used in this Code section, the term “bullying” means an act that is: (1) Any willful attempt or threat to inflict injury on another person, when accompanied by an apparent present ability to do so; (2) Any intentional display of force such as would give the victim reason to […]
Bullying Laws in Washington
RCW 28A.600.477 Prohibition of harassment, intimidation, and bullying. (1)(a) By January 31, 2020, each school district must adopt or amend if necessary a policy and procedure prohibiting harassment, intimidation, and bullying of any student and that, at a minimum, incorporates the model policy and procedure described in subsection (3) of this section. (b) School districts […]