I.
II.
III.
IV.
Question presented
a. Did the school violate Jeremy’s first amendment right when they suspended him
for a poem he wrote about a teacher?
Brief Answer
Statement of Facts
a. Jeremy is an honors student at Skyview Highschool
b. He recently got a C in his English class on a writing assignment
i. He feels he did not deserve a grade this low
c. During study hall, Jeremy wrote a poem expressing how he felt about his teacher
i. In the poem he did not explicitly use profanity, but did allude to the use
using “f--- that b----"
ii. Only a few friends heard the poem at this time
d. After study hall, Jeremy posted the poem to a wall in the boy’s bathroom
i. It stayed there for the majority of the day
ii. Several students posted the poem on social media
e. The poem became a popular topic of discussion of the rest of the week
f. A number of students came up to Jeremy with encouraging comments, saying
they agreed with his poem
g. When the principal learned of the poem, he brought Jeremy into his office
i. Jeremy was suspended for three days
h. Since the poem was written, one student has said “fuck you” to the teacher the
poem was written about and negative graffiti about the teacher was written in the
girl’s bathroom
i. This is not common practice at the school
i. Teacher has also taken time out of her day to address the poem while Jeremy was
suspended
j. Students stopped talking about the poem after about a week
Discussion
a. Tinker Standard
i. Was there a substantial/material disruption (Tinker v. Des Moines
Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. 503 (1969))
ii. Morse v. Frederick
1. Schools have a greater authority to intervene before a speech leads
to violence
2. Students in public schools do not "shed their constitutional rights
… at the schoolhouse gate" - cannot be punished for expressing
their personal views on campus
iii. Bd. Of Eric. v. Pico, 457 U.S. 853 (1982)
1. School board limited books they believed to be vulgar
2. Court held it was unconstitutional
3. Access to ideas prepares students for active and effective
participation in society
4. Characteristics of a school changes in a library - place to develop
and cultivate knowledge and ideas
iv. Porter v. Asencion
V.
1. School officials may regulate speech that they think would
substantially interfere with the work of the school or infringe on
other student’s rights
2. No more than necessary to facilitate interest
3. School does not need to tolerate conduct that is inconsistent with
their basic mission
4. Categories of speech standards
a. School regulations directed at student viewpoints
b. School regulations regarding student expression using
lewd/vulgar, obscene/ etc. speech
c. School regulation related to school-sponsored activities
d. Regulations that fall into none of these categories
b. Fraser Standard
i. Was the poem vulgar/lewd
ii. Morse v. Frederick – Concurrence
1. Fraser’s holding demonstrates that the constitutional rights of
students in public school are not coextensive with the rights of
adults
2. Public schools are “organs of the state”
a. Altering rights of free speech must be based on the special
characteristics of the school setting
i. Physical safety
ii. While a child is at school that are under the
protection of the school/state
iii. Citizens United v. FEC
1. Has it interrupted the school’s ability to perform their functions
iv. Lacks v. Ferguson Reorganized Sch. Dist. 147 F.3d 718
1. School teacher allowed students to use profanity in their creative
writing
2. School discipline code prohibited profanity
3. School had a legitimate right in prohibiting profanity by students
v. Kramer v. N.Y. City Bd. Of Education 715 F. Supp.2d 335
1. Age appropriateness as a relevant factor
vi. Anderson v. Milbank Sch. Dist. 197 F.R.D. 682
1. School districts rule prohibiting profane or inappropriate language
does not violate the first amendment
2. A school board has the right to establish and require the
enforcement of a rule that prohibits profanity in any context
vii. Article: Dirty Words in the Classroom 66 Tenn. L. Rev. 597
c. Lopez v. Tulare Joint Union High School Dist. 34 Cal. App. 4th 1302
i. Restriction of video made in a file arts class that used profanity and
references to sexual activity
ii. Court held that school had the right to censor that video
Conclusion