69ý

IT Infrastructure & Management

Student Loses Discipline Case For Blog Remarks

By Mark Walsh — June 06, 2008 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Copy URL

The Internet age continues to raise new questions about when off-campus behavior comes under the authority of public schools.

Of course, students have been subject to punishment for off-campus behavior since the mid-19th century, when the Vermont Supreme Court upheld the discipline of a boy who was overheard using disrespectful language as he passed by his schoolmaster’s house. (“Misbehavior Off Campus Raises Issues,” May 28, 2003.)

In a decision late last month, a federal appeals court ruled that a student’s off-campus blog remarks created a “foreseeable risk of substantial disruption” at her high school, and thus she was not entitled to a preliminary injunction reversing her discipline.

A lawsuit filed on behalf of Avery Doninger, a senior at Lewis S. Mills High School in Burlington, Conn., alleged that she was barred from serving as senior class secretary and from speaking at her graduation this spring because of derogatory comments she wrote about school officials on the blogging site . In a controversy over the scheduling of a school event, Ms. Doninger wrote that “jamfest is cancelled due to douchebags in central office,” and that readers should contact the superintendent “to piss her off more.”

In its May 29 decision, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, in New York City, unanimously ruled for school officials. “The blog posting directly pertained to events at lmhs, and Avery’s intent in writing it was specifically to encourage her fellow students to read and respond,” the appeals court said.

A lawyer representing the school administrators who were defendants in the case told the Hartford Courant the ruling was “a very, very decided victory” for school authorities.

Mitchell H. Rubinstein, an adjunct law professor at St. John’s University and New York Law School, said he found the court’s argument that the student’s speech would disrupt her high school unpersuasive.

“This demonstrates how narrow students’ First Amendment protections are,” said Mr. Rubinstein. “If this student can’t speak up against the administration, what student can?”

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the June 11, 2008 edition of Education Week

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Artificial Intelligence Webinar
AI and Educational Leadership: Driving Innovation and Equity
Discover how to leverage AI to transform teaching, leadership, and administration. Network with experts and learn practical strategies.
Content provided by 
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School Climate & Safety Webinar
Investing in Success: Leading a Culture of Safety and Support
Content provided by 
Assessment K-12 Essentials Forum Making Competency-Based Learning a Reality
Join this free virtual event to hear from educators and experts working to implement competency-based education.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.

Read Next

IT Infrastructure & Management Cybersecurity Demands Are Growing. Funding Isn't Keeping Pace
State education leaders worry funding for cybersecurity isn’t enough to cope with the worsening problem of attacks on schools.
2 min read
Dollar Sign Made of Circuit Board on Motherboard and CPU.
iStock/Getty
IT Infrastructure & Management Sizing Up the Risks of 69ý' Reliance on the 'Internet of Things'
Technology is now critical to both the learning and business operations of schools.
1 min read
Vector image of an open laptop with octopus tentacles reaching out of the monitor around a triangle icon with an exclamation point in the middle of it.
DigitalVision Vectors
IT Infrastructure & Management How 69ý Can Survive a Global Tech Meltdown
The CrowdStrike incident this summer is a cautionary tale for schools.
8 min read
Image of students taking a test.
smolaw11/iStock/Getty
IT Infrastructure & Management What Districts Can Do With All Those Old Chromebooks
The Chromebooks and tablets districts bought en masse early in the pandemic are approaching the end of their useful lives.
3 min read
Art and technology teacher Jenny O'Sullivan, right, shows students a video they made, April 15, 2024, at A.D. Henderson School in Boca Raton, Fla. While many teachers nationally complain their districts dictate textbooks and course work, the South Florida school's administrators allow their staff high levels of classroom creativity...and it works.
Art and technology teacher Jenny O'Sullivan, right, shows students a video they made on April 15, 2024, at A.D. Henderson School in Boca Raton, Fla. After districts equipped every student with a device early in the pandemic, they now face the challenge of recycling or disposing of the technology responsibly.
Wilfredo Lee/AP