Daniel Ortner, attorney for Pacific Legal Foundation, joins the Dom Giordano Program to discuss an Amicus Brief he co-authored pertaining to a supreme court case, Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L. As a high-school sophomore, B.L. was upset when she failed to make the varsity cheerleading team. While at the mall with friends, B.L. vented her frustrations by posting to snapchat a picture with the caption “F*** school, f*** softball, f*** cheer, f*** everything.” After a student took a screenshot and sent it to her mother, a team coach, who sent it up the chain, the school decided that B.L.’s private post had violated school rules, and suspended her from the junior-varsity cheerleading team. First, Giordano and Ortner debate whether or not the school should have any control of the speech of students while not on school grounds, with Giordano arguing that schools need to have some control to address cyber-bullying, in particular. Then, Giordano and Ortner discuss the idea of ‘snitch culture,’ which Ortner says this case strongly reflects, as teen and tween students turn petty disagreements and sniping into an effort to destroy the reputation of an individual. Ortner notes that empowering school officials to punish students for such speech creates an incentive for students, parents, and staff to further engage in this informant-style behavior. (Photo by Stefani Reynolds/Getty Images)
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