“Shut Up,” They Explained

Published November 25, 2011

Don’t call your school administrators “douchebags.” Or, if you do, don’t try to sue them when they try to shut you up.

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to review a case brought by a student who used school computers to send emails calling school administrators that name. The students were retaliating because the administrators wanted to relocate or reschedule a battle-of-the-bands at the school.

The standoff between the administration and the student continued with protest T-shirts and administrative opposition to the students’ holding class offices. Ultimately, the students filed a lawsuit seeking damages for constitutional violations involving freedom of speech.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit dismissed the case, and the U.S. Supreme Court recently declined to review this decision.

Source: Barbara Leonard, “End of the Road for Teen Who Wrote About D-Bags,” Courthouse News Service, October 31, 2011