The article discusses two cases where students were suspended for posts they made on Facebook criticizing teachers. In one case, a student in Illinois created a Facebook page calling a teacher a derogatory name and was suspended. In another case in Florida, a student wrote that a teacher was the "worst teacher ever" and was also suspended. The ACLU is involved in both cases arguing the suspensions violated the students' free speech rights. Legal experts say the cases will help define the limits of schools' authority over students' online speech and could lead to changes in student codes of conduct. The cases may establish precedents that guide future similar lawsuits.

2. Chapter 37 - Discipline
Student Code of Conduct Decisions
The board of trustees of an ISD shall with the advice of its district-level
committee establish a student code of conduct for the district. Chapter 37 Discipline
Law and Order in the Texas Education Code provides the guidelines for establishing a
student code of conduct.
TEC §37.001(a)(4): The board of trustees of an ISD may establish standards in the
student code of conduct to specify whether consideration is given, as a factor in a
decision to order suspension, removal to a disciplinary alternative education program, or
expulsion to:
A. self-defense;
B. intent or lack of intent at the time the student engaged in the conduct;
C. a student’s disciplinary history; or
D. a disability that substantially impairs the student’s capacity to appreciate the
wrongfulness of the student’s conduct.
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index2.aspx?id=2806

4. Examples of important Supreme
Court decisions involving
public schools
Student Discipline:
http://www.cepionline.org/newsletter/2005-2006/2005_Sept_
Supreme_Court_Public_Education.html

5. Honig v Doe (1988): In the Court’s opinion, the “stay put” provision of IDEA prohibits
school officials from unilaterally excluding students with disabilities from school for more
than 10-days, where the student’s misbehavior grows out of (i.e., is a manifestation of)
his or her disability.
Vernonia v Acton (1995) and Board of Education v Earls (2002): Taken together,
these two decisions uphold random drug testing of public school students. In essence
the Court said, “ The privacy interests of students are limited in a public school
environment.”
Owasso I.S.D. v Falvo (2002) and Gonzaga University v Doe (2002): These decisions
did not directly address the privacy rights of students. However, taken together they did
establish that the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) does not give
private citizens a “private right to sue” under FERPA.
http://www.cepionline.org/newsletter/2005-2006/2005_Sept_S

6. Robbins v. Lower Merion School District
Webcam Gate
Scandal
http://www.examiner.com/teen-issues-in-philadelphia/lower-merion-parents-
file-class-action-lawsuit-for-invasion-of-privacy-and-spying-on-kids-at-home
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robbins_v._Lo
wer_Merion_School_District

7. Parent files lawsuit over teacher's disciplin

8. Bethel School District v.
Fraser (478 U.S. 675, 1986)
Free Expression for Students
http://www.ericksonmcgovern.com/data/img/paragraph/entry-2-web.jpg

9. Morse v. Frederick
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10. Ingraham v.
Wright

11. Churubusco girls sue over discipline
ACLU: Punishment for posting photos
on MySpace violated free speech.
http://shadowsfall.com/
main/wp-
content/uploads/2010/0
7/myspace_logo.png

12. Student Who Dissed Teacher on Facebook Sues
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13. February 22, 2010 (OAK FOREST, Ill.) (WLS) -- The family of a suburban Chicago high school student is considering legal action against the
school after their son was suspended for creating a Facebook page that criticized a teacher.
Justin Bird, 16, a sophomore at Oak Forest High School, used his Facebook page to criticize a teacher.
Oak Forest High School's superintendent says the Facebook posting disrupted the school day, and that's why the student was suspended.
Bird's suspension has raised questions about whether school officials overstepped their authority.
A few keyboard strokes, a click of the mouse and a new Facebook page is born. And almost just like that, Justin Bird was suspended.
"I did this on this laptop in my room, sitting on my chair. I don't know how they can come into my house and suspend me for what I did on my
own time," said Bird.
Bird admits he created a Facebook fan page on which he called a teacher a derogatory name. About 50 people became fans. And then, Justin took
it down. But the next day at school, he received a five-day suspension. His parents are now considering taking legal action against the school.
"I don't believe it is the school's place to come into our home and to tell...my son he is suspended for something he did at home," said Donna Bird,
Justin's mother.
High School District 228 Superintendent Bill Kendall says what Bird wrote was "disrespectful, inappropriate and lewd. Even though it was done at
home, it disrupted the school."
But the American Civil Liberties Union says this case is part of a growing trend across the country.
In another case, Katherine Evans was suspended from her high school in Florida for writing on a Facebook page that her teacher was "the worst
teacher she ever had." Last week, a federal judge ruled that Evans could sue the principal.
Legal experts say as long as students aren't threatening a teacher, they are protected by the First Amendment, especially at home.
"We don't need a sort of governmental agent in the form of the school reaching into that household and correcting that behavior simply because the
school thinks it somehow involves them," said Ed Yohnka, ACLU spokesperson.
Legal experts say there is much unchartered territory in the world of social networking. It may be a while before the U.S. Supreme Court takes
such a case because, much of the time, parents and students are so embarrassed, they accept the punishment and move on.
Bird's parents are looking for the right attorney.

14. Who is the ACLU and what do they gain by becoming involved?
What do you think will be the final verdict in the two cases
involving world-wide-web?
Will the cases lay down the foundation for future lawsuits?
Will the cases force state agency and school districts to rewrite
their student code of conduct?