NY Student Suspended Over Social Media Post Prevails on Appeal

The Livingston Manor Central School District violated a high school student’s First Amendment rights when it suspended him for posting on social media a picture with friends resembling George Floyd’s murder, the Second Circuit said Thursday.

Although social media carries a greater “risk of transmission to the school environment,” that doesn’t “automatically bring it within the bounds of the school’s regulatory authority,” the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit said in a reversal.

If schools could punish offensive conduct that occurs off-campus, “we see a real risk of deterring students from coming anywhere near controversial topics,” Judge ...