Cert. Petitions Seek Review of Schools’ Authority to Discipline Students for On-line Speech

Last week’s filing of a cert. petition seeking consolidated review of the Third Circuit’s rulings in J.S. v.    Blue Mountain School District and Layshock v. Hermitage School District creates an important opportunity for the Court to confront the divide among the appellate courts that have weighed in thus far on whether a student can be punished for on-line speech hostile to school officials or fellow students. Cert. petitions have also been filed seeking review of the Fourth Circuit’s affirmation of such school authority in Kowalski v. Berkeley County Schools and the Second Circuit’s rulings in Doninger v. Niehoff that rejected a student’s challenge to disciplinary sanctions, finding obstacles to the student’s success as a matter of both First Amendment law and qualified immunity doctrine.  Unlike the Second and Fourth Circuits, the admittedly fractured rulings from the Third Circuit project great skepticism about the extension of a school's disciplinary reach to on-line, off-campus speech.  

JFB