In what could be an important precedent in these days of academic political correctness and cancel culture, the Supreme Court has confirmed that students still have First Amendment rights.
The case, Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L., dealt with a 14-year-old cheerleader, “B.L.,” who, after failing to win a spot on her public high school’s varsity cheer squad (she was given a spot on the JV), reacted by posting an image of a raised middle finger to the 250 “friends” on her Snapchat account with the caption, “F*** school F*** softball F*** cheer F*** everything.” The message was sent after school hours and from an off-campus location. When other cheerleaders complained to the coaches, the school suspended the unhappy teenager from the JV cheerleading team for a year. B.L. and her parents filed a lawsuit alleging a violation of her First Amendment rights.
