Court weighs off-campus speech in case of Pa. girl who posted lewd MySpace parody of principal

ACLU defends girl’s lewd MySpace principal parody

PHILADELPHIA — A federal appeals court in Philadelphia must decide whether a Pennsylvania middle school had the right to suspend a student who, on her own time, created a lewd MySpace page about her principal.

The case raises broad issues about the limits of school discipline for off-campus behavior that affects the atmosphere at school.

The U.S. Supreme Court has not directly ruled on the issue.

The American Civil Liberties Union argues that students have free-speech rights off-campus that protect such parodies, even if they’re vulgar.

But a lawyer for the Blue Mountain School District in eastern Pennsylvania says the student caused a disturbance at school and harmed the principal. - Maryclaire Dale (AP)

While I admire ACLU’s stands in many cases protecting human rights, I think ACLU is taking a wrong stand on this issue for the greater good of the society. Any society which doesn’t know to respect its teachers is doomed to failure in the long run. If ACLU manages to win this case, it will set a very bad precedent.