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Off Campus Speech In Schools

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While the Supreme Court has never ruled on the application of Tinker to speech originating off the school campus, in the fifth circuit’s recent use of the test in off-campus speech it noted six circuits, including theirs, held it can apply. Bell v. Itawamba Cnty. Sch. Bd., 799 F.3d 379 (5th Cir. 2015). Bell created a rap and placed it online using threatening language to describe inappropriate conduct on the part of two coaches. Id. The fifth circuit’s test for a school’s ability to restrict off-campus speech is the speaker’s intent to reach the school community. Id at 395. Bell stated he intended the rap to reach the school because he felt that if he merely reported the alleged misconduct of the coaches to the administration it would not be addressed. Id at 385. The court, in holding the rap song could be restricted categorized the speech by looking at the entirety of the expression to determine if it falls under the test of Tinker or one of its exemptions. Id at 391. The court also noted the school board had not disciplined Bell based on the lewdness or offensiveness of the …show more content…
v. Hannibal Public School District where it upheld a school’s suspension of a student who had sent messages to friends describing violent and threatening behavior directed at the school. D.J.M. v. Hannibal Pub. Sch. Dist., 647 F.3d 754 (8th Cir. 2011). The court adopted the test of reasonable foreseeability to reach school grounds and cause a substantial or material disruption. Id. They then analyzed the threat and determined it constituted a true threat by looking at its context, whether it was expressly conditional, and the reaction of those who heard it. Id at 764.The court then concluded that true threats are not protected under either of the prongs set forth in Tinker. Id. Therefore, because of its reasonable foreseeability to reach the school and the speech itself, the school could regulate the off-campus speech.

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