Background: In 2017, B.L., a freshman in the Mahanoy Area School District (District), tried out for the Varsity cheerleading squad. She made the Junior Varsity, but not Varsity squad. That weekend, B.L. and a friend posted two images on Snapchat. The posts expressed their frustration with the District’s cheerleading squads and contained curse words and pictures of their raised middle fingers.
Supreme Court Opinion: In Tinker two students wore peace sign armbands to their classes during the Vietnam War. They refused to remove them when requested by school officials and were suspended as a result. The students, through their parents, filed a lawsuit in United States District Court claiming the armbands were protected First Amendment speech and their armbands did not interfere with the work of the school. Ultimately, the Supreme Court agreed with the students and forced the school to remove the suspension from their records.
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Can educators and administrators suspend a cheerleader for one year from the cheerleader squad following her vulgar Snapchat post about the same cheerleading squad?