Whitewater Scotus Updates

Hello, and welcome back to another week at the Supreme Court! This week, we are looking at the court to see what they are looking at. Last time we checked in, there were two cases we were looking at, US v. Tsarnaev and Texas v. California. Unfortunately, Texas’ case was denied by the justices and Tsarnaev has not be granted either. So instead, we are checking out a new case that the Court will be hearing. The case is Mahonoy Area School District v. B.L. This case revolves around a student right of speech and whether or not the school has a right to punish a student for something they say outside of school on social media. Brandi Levy is a student who was banned from cheerleading for a year after she posted “fuck school fuck softball fuck cheer fuck everything” on Snapchat. Her and her family are suing the school, and the case has risen to the Supreme Court. The discussion is on whether or not Tinker v. Des Moines (which says that public school officials may regulate speech that disrupts the work or discipline of a school) applies to a student’s speech when they are not actually at school.

This case could potentially affect how any public-school views content a student posts outside of school, especially if the content is in relation to the school. It would also change the way any school could view students and admissions. The case is expected to go into oral argument soon (where the attorneys argue in front of the justices) and we should have a ruling in the near future.

That is all for this week, see you guys soon for another round at the Supreme Court!