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Facebook & Free Speech
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Nov 2009
For many of us, the idea that a high school coach could legally request a student's personal password for Facebook and then punish her for her private online exchanges is absurd. And yet, taking high school junior Mandi Jackson's assertions as true, this is exactly what happened at Pearl High School in Mississippi—and that's why she's suing the school district for violating her right to privacy and freedom of speech.
Mandi contends that a cheerleading coach asked the squad to provide their Facebook passwords; while some cheerleaders immediately deleted their accounts, Jackson willingly provided her account password only to be "publicly reprimanded, punished and humiliated" according to the complaint.
In Mandi's personal Facebook message box, the coach allegedly found a series of messages that contained vulgar language and had been sent between Mandi and a peer. The coach then shared these messages with other teachers and coaches, as well as the principal and superintendent, resulting in Mandi's banishment from certain school activities and events, including those for which she had already paid fees.
"I would have been completely fine with the school officials looking at my public [profile on] Facebook, but I think they went too far with getting my password and looking at my personal messages between me and my peers," Jackson said. "They were conversations between me and my friends, so I shouldn't have gotten in trouble for them."
Was This a Violation of Privacy and Freedom of Speech Rights?
In Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, the watershed case regarding students' rights in public schools, the Supreme Court famously announced, "It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate."
Given that Jackson's Facebook communications took place off-campus (the social media site is blocked from school computers) and that the matter discussed in the messages didn't apparently involve any threats of violence or anything having to do with the school, it's hard to imagine how the school can even attempt to justify its intrusion into and punishment for Jackson's personal messages.
From Jackson's complaint, it seems that the school district expects its students to shed their rights not only at the schoolhouse gate, but at home, at the mall, or wherever else they might use the Internet. The school district has not commented publicly on the lawsuit.
Find more information on this developing case at the Student Press Law Center.
Most Viewed in Freedom of Speech
Nov 2009
Comments
Submitted by on Sep 15, 2011 - 7:27PM
Yea, i am a senior and i go to a private school, and this past year our handbook was changed from banning tattoos to now allowing them even if they are visible. Well some of the students got permanent tattoos that are visible on their neck and arms. So as a prank that abides by our school rules, the seniors decided to all come in the school one day wearing fake tattoos all over their arms and necks. Well our disciplinarian made an announcement during first period of the day that we all better have them washed off by the second period. We didn't want to have a battle with him so we all did what he said even though the rules of our school says nothing about us not being able to have them. So the next day at school the disciplinarian confronts me and pulls me aside and asks me if the tattoo day was my idea. As the senior class president, i told him i am willing to take responsibility for the seniors wearing tattoos. i did this thinking i there's no reason we should be in trouble because i knew we didn't break a school rule. so he yelled at me and said the pranks need to stop but did not punish me. well later that day i was told to see him after school. so i went and he asked me about a group on Facebook that the senior class made on Facebook that was created to organize pranks that abide by the school rules. so as i was in his office he told me to sign in my facebook and show him the group. i asked him if i had a choice and he said no. so i went ahead and logged on. turned out the group was deleted so i couldnt show him. well i then sat back down and talked with him. eventually he dismissed me out of his office and then as i was walking out i realized that i never logged out my account. so i walked back into his office and asked if i was allowed to log off the account he said "no dont log out" and said that i have no privacy and he has the right to access all the information on my facebook account. That is my question, Can he make me log onto my account to show a group he has no proof says anything bad? and Can he not allow me to log out my account so he can go through my whole facebook and look through all my private conversations?
Submitted by on Oct 23, 2011 - 7:02PM
Jackson’s First Amendment Rights were violated. First of all, the conversation occurred outside of school. The school should only be involved if the out of school conversation will lead to someone getting harmed during school. Based on this article, it seems like both students were not fighting so the school should not have violated the students’ privacy and goes against the freedom of speech. Most students, when talking to each other, both in and out of class use vulgar language when talking to each other because they know it does not mean anything. As for the anonymous comment, I feel that the school might have a case against you because there is a possibility that people can be injured (but I doubt that is the case).
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