The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a high school violated a student’s free speech rights by punishing her for a social media post. By a vote of 8-1, the nation’s highest court ruled in favor of Brandi Levy over Mahanoy Area School District in the state of Pennsylvania. In 2017, Levy was upset that she did not make the top cheerleading team at the area’s high school. She was selected for the second-best team. Levy, who was 14 at the time, then posted on Snapchat an image of herself raising a middle finger, an offensive sign, and using bad language to criticize the school and the team. The action took place outside of school hours and away from the school grounds. The Snapchat messages could only be seen for a short time. But the post was captured and shared with parents and school officials. Some students approached school officials about the post and were “visibly upset.” School officials punished Levy by banning her from cheerleading for one year. They decided that her offensive action was related to cheerleading, a school activity, and disruptive. Levy and her parents took their case against the school to court. A lower court judge ordered the school to let her back onto the team. But the school appealed the decision to a federal court in Pennsylvania and then the Supreme Court. The school argued that it was permitted to punish Levy based on a 1969 Supreme Court ruling. The ruling in Tinker v. Des Moines protected students’ rights to protest the Vietnam War. But the court also said students could be punished for disruptive speech. Justice Stephen Breyer wrote the opinion for the majority. Some might think Levy’s words were not worthy of the First Amendment protection of free speech rights, Breyer noted. “But sometimes it is necessary to protect the superfluous in order to preserve the necessary,” he added. A lower court had ruled that schools have no authority over a student’s speech when it happens away from school grounds. But the Supreme Court’s ruling is more limited. Breyer wrote that the school’s interests “remain significant in some off-campus circumstances.” He added, however, "When it comes to political or religious speech that occurs outside school or a school program or activity, the school will have a heavy burden to justify intervention.” Levy said she was glad the Supreme Court agreed that her school went too far. Now, an 18-year-old college student, she told Reuters, "I never could have imagined that one simple snap would turn into a Supreme Court case, but I'm proud that my family and I advocated for the rights of millions of public school students.”
Title: US Supreme Court Sides with Student over School in Free Speech Decision
Content: <div id='article-page'><div id='article-content' data-media-url='//news-app-staging.s3.amazonaws.com' data-base-url='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5172/A.wav' data-capture-url='//staging.analytics.lingraphica.com/events/capture_news' data-article-title='US Supreme Court Sides with Student over School in Free Speech Decision' data-article-id='5715'><script src='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com/javascripts/getscripts.js'></script><link rel='stylesheet' href='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com/stylesheets/article.css' type='text/css' /><div class='article'><p><span data-start-time='0' data-end-time='14938'>The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a high school violated a student’s free speech rights by punishing her for a social media post.</span> <span data-start-time='14938' data-end-time='32771'>By a vote of 8-1, the nation’s highest court ruled in favor of Brandi Levy over Mahanoy Area School District in the state of Pennsylvania.</span> <span data-start-time='32771' data-end-time='45479'>In 2017, Levy was upset that she did not make the top cheerleading team at the area’s high school. </span> <span data-start-time='45479' data-end-time='50167'>She was selected for the second-best team.</span> <span data-start-time='50167' data-end-time='70667'>Levy, who was 14 at the time, then posted on Snapchat an image of herself raising a middle finger, an offensive sign, and using bad language to criticize the school and the team. </span> <span data-start-time='70667' data-end-time='80500'>The action took place outside of school hours and away from the school grounds.</span> <span data-start-time='80500' data-end-time='86688'>The Snapchat messages could only be seen for a short time. </span> <span data-start-time='86688' data-end-time='93104'>But the post was captured and shared with parents and school officials. </span> <span data-start-time='93104' data-end-time='101958'>Some students approached school officials about the post and were “visibly upset.”</span> <span data-start-time='101958' data-end-time='108146'>School officials punished Levy by banning her from cheerleading for one year. </span> <span data-start-time='108146' data-end-time='118083'>They decided that her offensive action was related to cheerleading, a school activity, and disruptive.</span> <span data-start-time='118083' data-end-time='123750'>Levy and her parents took their case against the school to court. </span> <span data-start-time='123750' data-end-time='130354'>A lower court judge ordered the school to let her back onto the team. </span> <span data-start-time='130354' data-end-time='139875'>But the school appealed the decision to a federal court in Pennsylvania and then the Supreme Court.</span> <span data-start-time='139875' data-end-time='149375'>The school argued that it was permitted to punish Levy based on a 1969 Supreme Court ruling.</span> <span data-start-time='149375' data-end-time='158333'>The ruling in Tinker v. Des Moines protected students’ rights to protest the Vietnam War. </span> <span data-start-time='158333' data-end-time='166458'>But the court also said students could be punished for disruptive speech.</span> <span data-start-time='166458' data-end-time='173083'>Justice Stephen Breyer wrote the opinion for the majority. </span> <span data-start-time='173083' data-end-time='184917'>Some might think Levy’s words were not worthy of the First Amendment protection of free speech rights, Breyer noted. </span> <span data-start-time='184917' data-end-time='197000'>“But sometimes it is necessary to protect the superfluous in order to preserve the necessary,” he added.</span> <span data-start-time='197000' data-end-time='207021'>A lower court had ruled that schools have no authority over a student’s speech when it happens away from school grounds. </span> <span data-start-time='207021' data-end-time='212146'>But the Supreme Court’s ruling is more limited.</span> <span data-start-time='212146' data-end-time='221771'>Breyer wrote that the school’s interests “remain significant in some off-campus circumstances.”</span> <span data-start-time='221771' data-end-time='239063'>He added, however, "When it comes to political or religious speech that occurs outside school or a school program or activity, the school will have a heavy burden to justify intervention.”</span> <span data-start-time='239063' data-end-time='246104'>Levy said she was glad the Supreme Court agreed that her school went too far.</span> <span data-start-time='246104' data-end-time='269063'>Now, an 18-year-old college student, she told Reuters, "I never could have imagined that one simple snap would turn into a Supreme Court case, but I'm proud that my family and I advocated for the rights of millions of public school students.”</span> </p></div><div class='control-buttons-sticky' style='display:none;'><div class='control-buttons'><button title='Back' class='back' disabled='disabled'></button><button title='Play' class='play' disabled='disabled'></button><button title='Pause' class='pause' style='display:none;'></button><button title='Forward' class='forward' disabled='disabled'></button><button class='finished-reading' style='display:none;'>Done</button></div></div></div><div id='article-media'><div id='media-image'><img src='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5172/A.jpeg'/></div></div><div id='question-content' style='display:none;'><div class='vocabulary_question question-container' data-question-id=17647 data-hint-location='184917' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5172/what_does_superfluous_mean.wav'>What does superfluous mean?</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='beyond what is needed; not necessary'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5172/full_of_resembling_or_smelling_of_flowers.wav'><span>full of, resembling, or smelling of flowers</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5172/beyond_what_is_needed_not_necessary.wav'><span>beyond what is needed; not necessary</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5172/very_good_or_pleasant_excellent.wav'><span>very good or pleasant; excellent</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5172/a_large_selfservice_store_selling_foods_and_household_goods.wav'><span>a large self-service store selling foods and household goods</span></div></div></div><div class='multiple_choice_question question-container' data-question-id=17648 data-hint-location='14938' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5172/in_which_american_state_was_the_school_that_punished_the_student.wav'>In which American state was the school that punished the student?</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='Pennsylvania'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5172/washington.wav'><span>Washington</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5172/pennsylvania.wav'><span>Pennsylvania</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5172/new_jersey.wav'><span>New Jersey</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5172/maine.wav'><span>Maine</span></div></div></div><div class='sentence_completion_question question-container' data-question-id=17649 data-hint-location='166458' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5172/justice_stephen_breyer_wrote_the_opinion_for_the__blank__.wav'>Justice Stephen Breyer wrote the opinion for the <span class='blank'>majority</span>. </div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='majority'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5172/chicago_cubs.wav'><span>Chicago Cubs</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5172/majority.wav'><span>majority</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5172/newspaper.wav'><span>newspaper</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5172/musical.wav'><span>musical</span></div></div></div><div class='question-buttons'><button class='skip-button'></button><button class='hint-button'></button><button class='speak-button'></button></div></div></div>
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