LEE’S SUMMIT, Mo. — Twin brothers, who are seniors at Lee’s Summit North High School, might have to complete a six-month suspension after the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the offensive remarks they made on their blog are not protected by the First Amendment.
In its ruling Wednesday, the Court of Appeals said it was vacating the District Court’s order and reversing the preliminary injunction originally granted to the brothers.
Back in December of 2011, the brothers started a blog called NorthPress, using a Dutch domain site to prevent U.S. users from finding it on Google. The site was not password-protected, so anyone could get on it if they knew the domain name. Between December 13-16, 2011, the judge wrote that the brothers “posted a variety of offensive and racist comments as well as sexually explicit and degrading comments about particular female classmates, whom they identified by name.”
Lee’s Summit North officials suspended the brothers for 180 days, but their parents filed a lawsuit against the school district, claiming their free speech rights were being violated. They said a third unidentified student posted the racially insensitive comments. They also argued the suspension would hurt the boys’ scholarship prospects of playing band in college.
Lee’s Summit officials allowed the boys to attend an alternative school, but the parents said that school didn’t offer the honors courses they needed to gain college credit.
The District judge granted a preliminary injunction in March and allowed the boys to go back to Lee’s Summit North. The school district appealed, and the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed that the injunction should not have been granted.
In the decision, the judge wrote, “student speech that causes a substantial disruption is not protected.” The judge said because the students directed the offensive remarks at certain students, “the specter of cyber-bullying hangs over this case.”
The three-judge panel decided the preliminary injunction was made “in error” and said, “we leave the District Court with the unenviable task of fashioning a remedy.”
