United States Court of Appeals Hears Arguments in Two Students Cases, Suspended for “Bashing” School Officials on the Internet

A recent hearing held before the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit involved constitutional issues of free-speech, as applied to two students suspended for creating fake MySpace pages claiming to be their school principals. One student, a high school senior from Pittsburgh, was suspended in 2005 when he created a fake MySpace page to parody his principal. On the profile page, the student accused his principal of using steroids, smoking marijuana and being a drunk. The student did not create the MySpace page while at school, or even on school grounds, rather creating the site on his grandmother’s computer located in her basement. Upon discovery of the website, the student was suspended, but later had his suspension overturned by a Federal three-judge appellate panel. The panel found that the student did not create the site on school grounds, the MySpace page never caused a substantial disruption in the high school and the student had been within his constitutional first-amendment rights. The panel equated the MySpace page as no different than had the student seen his principal at a Major League baseball game and called him profanities. The panel’s decision was appealed by the school district.

The second case arose out of a 2007 incident where an eight grade student from Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania also created a fake MySpace page for her principal, “self-proclaiming” he was a pedophile and sex addict. She created the page as retaliation for discipline she received resulting from a dress-code violation at the school, and did so from her parent’s home computer. The student allowed only twenty-two others access to the fake profile she had created. One of those other students printed out the fake profile and submitted the printed version to the middle school principal depicted on the MySpace page. The student was then suspended for ten days. Upon her appeal, another Federal three-judge panel upheld the suspension, indicating the girl could be punished for “lewd and vulgar” speech, and that the language used on the internet could have supported criminal charges. The student’s parents appealed the decision.

Both cases are now before the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, in Philadelphia, with arguments being heard last month but a decision not expected in the immediate future. The Court must examine many issues before rendering an Opinion; most importantly whether or not the students’ actions are protected by the Constitution, specifically the First Amendment’s right to freedom of speech. Case law seems to indicate that a student can only be punished if his or her speech incites a substantial disruption of school activities; not the case in respect to both students here. A 1996 Supreme Court decision also held, however, that there is no Constitutional protection for lewd, vulgar, indecent and plainly offensive speech in school.

This leads to the next issue that the Court must determine; the internet and how it eliminates boundaries and territories. Both students argue that they created the MySpace pages from their home computers and that no activity relating to these incidents occurred on school grounds. Attorneys for the school boards argued that with the creation of the internet, there are no longer boundaries between school and home. Activities relating to school, even though performed on a home computer, can instantaneously be disseminated across school grounds. Therefore, the school board argues that although the students created the websites from home, the fact that they were disseminated and/or seen by other students and school officials via the internet makes the students actions to have occurred on school grounds.

Those accused of crimes, or administratively punished by “state” officials, are subject to the protections of the Constitution of the United States. An experienced criminal defense attorney ensures a defendant’s rights are protected. If you have been charged with, or convicted of an offense, you still have constitutionally protected rights which the Law Offices of Marc Neff will protect. For a confidential consultation, please contact our office at 215-563-9800 or via email at marc@nefflawoffices.com.