(The Lion)–A jury verdict in the case of a Tennessee high school student who posted memes criticizing his principal affirms not only the student’s right to free speech but also the role of parents in monitoring what their children post online, an attorney in the case said.
Conor Fitzpatrick, a senior attorney with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), which represented the 20-year-old former student, said the win resonates for students nationwide.
“This isn’t just a victory for our client; it’s a victory for any high school student who wants to speak their mind about school online without fear of punishment,” Fitzpatrick said. “Our client’s posts caused no disruption, and what teenagers post on social media is their parents’ business, not the government’s.”
The issue stemmed from a three-day suspension of the student in August 2022 for posting three memes lampooning then-Principal Jason Quick.
The memes included images of Quick “as an anime cat wearing whiskers, cat ears and a French maid dress,” the foundation said in a release, as well as one with Quick’s head “superimposed on a hand-drawn cartoon character being hugged by a cartoon bird.”
“The student intended the images to be tongue-in-cheek commentary, gently lampooning a school administrator he perceived as humorless,” the release said.
But the school used its social media policies to justify the suspension, including a ban on images that “embarrass,” “discredit” or “humiliate” another student or school staff member. The school also had a policy that banned posts “unbecoming of a Wildcat,” the mascot of Tullahoma High School, which is about 80 miles south of Nashville.
The school adjusted its policies and removed the suspension from the student’s record in August 2023, one month after the lawsuit was filed, but FIRE fought to have the student’s constitutional rights “fully vindicated.”
Quick resigned in May 2023, although it was unclear whether his exit was connected to the controversy, local media reported.
The lawsuit alleged that school administrators violated the student’s First Amendment rights because the posts were made off campus, the Daily Caller News Foundation reported. The Supreme Court has previously ruled that free expression outside normal school hours is permitted and is a protected First Amendment right, the lawsuit alleged.
“This case is about a thin-skinned high school principal defying the First Amendment and suspending a student for lampooning the principal on the student’s Instagram page even though the posts caused no disruption at school,” the lawsuit said.
“As long as the student’s expression does not substantially disrupt the school day, school administrators have no business acting as a board of censors over students’ private speech,” Fitzpatrick said after the case was filed.
