[ti:US Supreme Court Sides with Student over School in Free Speech Decision]
[by:www.21voa.com]
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[00:00.04]The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday
[00:05.12]that a high school violated a student's free speech rights
[00:10.20]by punishing her for a social media post.
[00:15.96]By a vote of 8-1, the nation's highest court ruled in favor of Brandi Levy
[00:26.24]over Mahanoy Area School District in the state of Pennsylvania.
[00:33.76]In 2017, Levy was upset that she did not
[00:39.76]make the top cheerleading team at the area's high school.
[00:45.48]She was selected for the second-best team.
[00:50.80]Levy, who was 14 at the time, then posted on Snapchat
[00:57.28]an image of herself raising a middle finger, an offensive sign,
[01:03.48]and using bad language to criticize the school and the team.
[01:11.16]The action took place outside of school hours
[01:16.32]and away from the school grounds.
[01:21.20]The Snapchat messages could only be seen for a short time.
[01:26.64]But the post was captured and shared with parents and school officials.
[01:33.40]Some students approached school officials about the post
[01:38.00]and were "visibly upset."
[01:42.24]School officials punished Levy
[01:44.64]by banning her from cheerleading for one year.
[01:48.40]They decided that her offensive action was related to cheerleading,
[01:53.84]a school activity, and disruptive.
[01:58.44]Levy and her parents took their case against the school to court.
[02:04.20]A lower court judge ordered the school to let her back onto the team.
[02:10.84]But the school appealed the decision to a federal court in Pennsylvania
[02:16.40]and then the Supreme Court.
[02:20.20]The school argued that it was permitted
[02:22.60]to punish Levy based on a 1969 Supreme Court ruling.
[02:29.44]The ruling in Tinker v. Des Moines protected students' rights
[02:35.44]to protest the Vietnam War.
[02:38.44]But the court also said students could be punished for disruptive speech.
[02:47.16]Justice Stephen Breyer wrote the opinion for the majority.
[02:53.52]Some might think Levy's words were not worthy
[02:58.36]of the First Amendment protection of free speech rights, Breyer noted.
[03:04.88]"But sometimes it is necessary to protect the superfluous
[03:11.52]in order to preserve the necessary," he added.
[03:17.52]A lower court had ruled that schools have no authority
[03:21.56]over a student's speech when it happens away from school grounds.
[03:27.20]But the Supreme Court's ruling is more limited.
[03:32.68]Breyer wrote that the school's interests "remain significant
[03:37.80]in some off-campus circumstances."
[03:42.32]He added, however, "When it comes to political or religious speech
[03:47.68]that occurs outside school or a school program or activity,
[03:52.96]the school will have a heavy burden to justify intervention."
[03:59.36]Levy said she was glad the Supreme Court agreed
[04:02.64]that her school went too far.
[04:06.56]Now, an 18-year-old college student, she told Reuters,
[04:12.08]"I never could have imagined that one simple snap
[04:17.32]would turn into a Supreme Court case,
[04:21.20]but I'm proud that my family and I advocated
[04:24.56]for the rights of millions of public school students."
[04:29.56]I'm Dan Friedell. 更多听力请访问21VOA.COM