A jury trial in a First Amendment case brought by a Tennessee high school student against Tullahoma City Schools is scheduled for Tuesday, January 13.
On August 10, 2022, Tullahoma High School administrators summoned a 17-year-old male student, the plaintiff in the case, and questioned him about three satirical memes he had posted on his personal Instagram account while off campus during summer vacation, including images depicting Principal Jason Quick in a humorous and cartoonish manner.
Although the student said the posts were meant as lighthearted satire and did not cause a disruption at school, he was disciplined with a three-day out-of-school suspension.
In July 2023, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) filed a lawsuit on the student’s behalf in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, arguing that Tullahoma High School and its principal violated the student’s First Amendment rights by suspending him for the off-campus, non-disruptive social media satire of the principal.
The plaintiffs assert that public schools may not regulate students’ off-campus speech unless it causes or threatens substantial disruption at school.
Further, the plaintiffs’ original complaint points out how the school enforced policies banning online content that embarrasses or discredits staff and speech “unbecoming of a Wildcat,” even when posted off campus, arguing such policies are unconstitutional because they are overbroad and vague, allowing school officials to punish protected speech without a disruption requirement.
Along with the original complaint, the plaintiffs asked the court to temporarily remove the suspension from the student’s record and block the two social media policies while the case moved forward.
After FIRE filed that request, the school district removed both policies from the student handbook. Then, on August 14, 2023, after the district also removed the suspension from the student’s record while the case was still pending, FIRE withdrew its request.
The plaintiffs are seeking for Tullahoma City Schools to permanently lift the policies and the student’s suspension as well as obtain monetary damages for the violation of the student’s First Amendment rights.
Tuesday’s jury trial will be overseen by U.S. District Judge Katherine A. Crytzer.
“A high school principal’s bruised ego does not trump the First Amendment. We hope the trial will make it clear that high school students get to use the First Amendment, not just learn about it,” Conor Fitzpatrick, one of the FIRE attorneys representing the student, said in a statement obtained by The Tennessee Star.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Image “Memes” by FIRE.org and “Tullahoma High School” is by Tullahoma High School.
