Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L.: Student Speech Beyond the Schoolhouse Gate

The course, presented by Sara Rose of the ACLU of Pennsylvania and Theresa Loscalzo and Arleigh Helfer of Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP, will address the student free speech issues raised and addressed in Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L., which the Supreme Court decided in June 2021. In an age of social media and electronic communications, what student speech can public schools regulate and when can they regulate it?  

Faculty will address the Supreme Court's decision in the case, what that decision resolved, what guidance it gives concerning student free speech rights in the age of social media, and what issues remain for students and educators to navigate in its wake. This program will benefit attorneys with interests in First Amendment Free Speech practice and those who counsel public schools.

Learning Objectives:

1.  Identify the issues raised by the case

2.  Discuss the Court's decision and what it means for students' free-speech rights when they are outside of school

3. Provide guidance for lawyers who counsel school districts about the First Amendment limits to schools' authority to punish students for off-campus speech