2nd Circuit: High school student’s post on a public blog is subject to punishment by school authorities
How Appealing links to the case and numerous reports here and here on the yesterday’s ruling in Doninger v. Niehoff, No. 07-3885 (2nd Cir. May 29, 2008). Regarding the case:
. . . Doninger sued Defendants-Appellees Karissa Niehoff and Paula Schwartz, respectively the principal of Lewis Mills High School and the superintendent of the district in which LMHS is located, when her daughter, Avery Doninger, was disqualified from running for Senior Class Secretary after she posted a vulgar and misleading message about the supposed cancellation of an upcoming school event on an independently operated, publicly accessible web log (or ‘blog’) . . .
Because Avery’s blog post created a foreseeable risk of substantial disruption at LMHS, we conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion. We therefore affirm the denial of Doninger’s preliminary injunction motion.