TRI In The News
Student Punished Upon School's Privacy Invasion
6/20/2011
TRI IN THE NEWS: STUDENT PUNISHED UPON SCHOOL'S PRIVACY INVASION
From One News Now
Original article available here.
A U.S. federal court has ruled that a school overstepped its authority in disciplining a student for information he posted on his social networking site.
Hickory High School senior Justin Layshock used his grandmother's computer to create a parody profile of a teacher. But when school officials learned of it, they imposed a ten-day suspension and banned him from extracurricular activities and from participating in graduation ceremonies. But John Whitehead of The Rutherford Institute is defending Layshock's privacy.
"What this says is state officials, which public school teachers...and school officials [are], can't come into your home [or] your computer and tell you what you can and can't say," he explains.
Whitehead believes the school will appeal and take the case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. But one might be curious about why school officials are so adamant to pursue this matter.
"Cases that we see today, the sense of humor is gone," he accounts. "Teachers don't like any criticism, [and] the schools like no criticism at all."
He does not know what the outcome would be if the court agrees to hear the case, but he does believe any decision would be close.
