Law School

Mahanoy Area School Dist. v. B. L.


Listen Later

Mahanoy Area School District v B L (2021), was a United States Supreme Court case involving the ability of schools to regulate student speech made off-campus, such as speech made on social media. The case challenged past interpretation of Tinker v Des Moines Independent Community School District and Bethel School District v Fraser, previous Supreme Court decisions related to student speech which may be disruptive to the educational environment, in light of online communications.

The case centered on Brandi Levy, identified as B L in pleadings, a student at Mahanoy Area High School in Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania, who posted an angry, profane Snapchat message from an off-campus location after she failed to make the school's varsity cheerleading squad. Though sent to a private circle of friends and deleted later, the message was shown to school staff, and B L was suspended from cheerleading the next year under the school's policy relating to social media.

B L's parents filed suit on her behalf in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, arguing that the school district had unconstitutionally punished her for speech made completely outside of the school that did not pose a risk of disruption. The District Court held in B L's favor and that the school's policy was beyond its disciplinary reach under Tinker. On appeal to the Third Circuit, a three-judge panel unanimously affirmed this ruling, but the majority opinion stated that Tinker did not extend to any off-campus speech, while a dissenting opinion believed this conclusion was overly broad. The Third Circuit's decision created a circuit split for the Supreme Court to resolve.

The Supreme Court affirmed the Third Circuit's ruling in regard to B L's case in an 8–1 decision in June 2021, though overruled the Third Circuit's opinion related to off-campus speech relative to Tinker. The Court affirmed that through Tinker, schools may have a valid interest to regulate student speech off-campus that is disruptive, but did not define when this regulation can occur, leaving this open for lower courts in future litigation. The Court ruled specifically for B L that the school's interests to prevent disruption under Tinker were not sufficient to overcome her First Amendment rights.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Law SchoolBy The Law School of America

  • 3.1
  • 3.1
  • 3.1
  • 3.1
  • 3.1

3.1

60 ratings


More shows like Law School

View all
Hidden Brain by Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam

Hidden Brain

43,536 Listeners

Global News Podcast by BBC World Service

Global News Podcast

7,806 Listeners

The Ben Shapiro Show by The Daily Wire

The Ben Shapiro Show

154,018 Listeners

Above the Law - Thinking Like a Lawyer by Legal Talk Network

Above the Law - Thinking Like a Lawyer

487 Listeners

The Law School Toolbox Podcast: Tools for Law Students from 1L to the Bar Exam, and Beyond by Alison Monahan and Lee Burgess - Law School Toolbox, LLC

The Law School Toolbox Podcast: Tools for Law Students from 1L to the Bar Exam, and Beyond

511 Listeners

Court Junkie by PodcastOne

Court Junkie

8,527 Listeners

The Daily by The New York Times

The Daily

113,199 Listeners

Speak English Now Podcast: Learn English | Speak English without grammar. by Georgiana, founder of SpeakEnglishPodcast.com

Speak English Now Podcast: Learn English | Speak English without grammar.

557 Listeners

Crime Junkie by Audiochuck

Crime Junkie

369,785 Listeners

The Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast: Pass the Bar Exam with Less Stress by Bar Exam Toolbox

The Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast: Pass the Bar Exam with Less Stress

441 Listeners

Dateline NBC by NBC News

Dateline NBC

47,718 Listeners

SRMN by SRMN

SRMN

19 Listeners

Advisory Opinions by The Dispatch

Advisory Opinions

3,941 Listeners

Mind of a Monster: The Cross-Country Killer by ID

Mind of a Monster: The Cross-Country Killer

1,871 Listeners

Ishq- by Muzammil Jit

Ishq-

3 Listeners