Supreme Court Rules for High School Cheerleader Punished Over Snapchat Rant

The U.S. Supreme Court said a public high school violated the Constitution when it punished a 14-year-old cheerleader for a profane Snapchat rant in a ruling that bolsters the First Amendment rights of students when they post on social media.

The 8-1 ruling said officials have less power to regulate what students say when they are off-campus and aren’t taking part in school-related activities than when they are in the school environment.

But the court stopped short of saying that schools can never punish off-campus speech.

The ruling does “not now set forth a broad, highly general First Amendment rule stating just what counts as ‘off campus’ speech and whether or how ordinary First Amendment standards must give way off campus to a school’s special need to prevent,” Justice Stephen Breyer wrote for the court.

In particular, the ruling provides some “First Amendment leeway” for schools to address bullying and sexual harassment that may occur off-campus but can nevertheless have a substantial impact on the school environment.

Justice Clarence Thomas was the sole dissenter.

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