In February, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals issued contradictory opinions involving online student speech. The losing sides of both Layshock and Blue Mountain are asking the Court to rehear their cases before a full court. Both parties agree that the two opinions, issued the same day, seemingly contradict each other. Even the winning parties agree that the conflicting rulings will confuse both students and administrators on what is and what is not protected speech.
The Court needs to send a clear message that students should not be punished by school officials for their off campus speech. If the Court accepts the parties’ petition, it will rehear the cases before all the judges of the court and issue a new opinion. Stay tuned for more to come…
Read more about the cases here.