Posted on 01/28/2006 6:04:00 PM PST by NormsRevenge
PITTSBURGH - A high school senior who was transferred to an alternative school as punishment for parodying his principal on the Internet is suing the district, arguing it violated his freedom of speech.
Justin Layshock had used his grandmother's computer and the Web site MySpace.com to create a phony profile under the principal's name and photo.
The site asks questions, and Justin filled in answers peppered with vulgarities, fat jokes and, to the question "what did you do on your last birthday?" the response: "too drunk to remember," according to the lawsuit filed on Justin's behalf by the American Civil Liberties Union.
School officials weren't amused. They questioned the teenager about the site on Dec. 21, and he apologized to the principal, the ACLU said.
Then, on Jan. 6, the district suspended Justin for 10 days and transferred him to an alternative program typically reserved for students with behavior or attendance problems, according to the lawsuit. He also was banned from school events, including tutoring and graduation ceremonies.
"The school's punishment affects his education," said Witold Walczak, Pennsylvania Legal Director of the ACLU. "In this critical last semester, Justin's opportunities to gain admission to college may be irreparably damaged."
According to the lawsuit, Pennsylvania State University notified Justin that his application had been put on "a registration hold" and asked for more information about the suspension. "It is unknown how or why the university had received this information, since it is supposed to be confidential under federal-student-privacy laws," the lawsuit says.
Officials with the Hermitage School District declined to comment.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh, seeks Justin's immediate reinstatement to his regular school. A hearing for a temporary order is set for Monday.
"Not to excuse it, but school officials need to understand that they're not parents," Walczak said. "School officials can't reach into parents' homes and tell them how to raise their kids."
The principal acts like he needs a tube of Preparation H.
Can't be sure based upon this article but I might side with the ACLU for the first time in decades.
The kid should be punished but it was a funny prank. He should've used a free anonymizer service. lol How thin the skin of the mighty.
This is just chilling. The jackboots have run amok in the USSA and the "conservatives" are usually on their side, so it's only gonna' get worse.
I hope the kid wins a big settlement and defects to a free country.
The principal should sue this student and ACLU for defamation of character and spreading a false profile, pretending that the principal is the one who filled this out. The student should be banned from graduation, and made to wear a sign for one year that he is a criminal who defames other's character for no reason.
I'll take a wild guess that this kid is a jerk and has a track record of doing stupid things. I could be wrong about this - I thought I was wrong once before, but I was mistaken.
>>...funny prank<<<
Defamation and slander are not funny. You would not be laughing if you were depicted in the same light as the school principal, or would you?
Hermitage school ping
Chilling is that some people here think it's perfectly OK to defame and slander someone under the guise of youthful indiscretion and humor. Imagine yourself as the subject of the youth's activities. Or would you enjoy that?
Yep. The punishment didn't remotely fit the crime.
A little over the top, don't you think?
If this kid was prone to bad behaviour and the principal had to reprimand him after the kids insulting parody, there would have been a lawsuit anyway. The principal was in a "no win" situation I feel. Putting him in a different school would assure that the principal wouldn't be accused of prejudicial treatment.
It really depends. As long as it were taken down when requested then what is the big deal? He deserved a few days of in school suspension but the school was within its rights to punish him how it saw fit but I still think it is just a kid who was doing a stupid kid thing. It is not like he had his principle added to a fake child molester registry or something serious like that. (Such things are not difficult to do.) If the kid were really being malicious and had a history of it then I would agree with the punishment. I suppose when inflation of character becomes a crime then I would be more willing to worry about defamation of such.
I'll take a wild guess that this principal is a jerk and has a track record of doing stupid things.
Hate to break this to you but a "parody" is not slander nor defamation, but protected speech.
This is off topic, but do you happen to work in Pittsburgh as a high school principal.
Simply saying it's parody does not make it so.
Everyone who is siding with the "kid" and the aCLU on this one why don't you send me your name and photo and I'll set you up for ridicule on that sewer MySpace.com. I promise I'll make it really hilarious. A "prank." Drugs, booze and sexual disorientation will be guaranteed in your "profile."
"The principal should sue this student and ACLU for defamation of character and spreading a false profile, pretending that the principal is the one who filled this out. The student should be banned from graduation, and made to wear a sign for one year that he is a criminal who defames other's character for no reason."
Your exactly right. The kid should take responsibility for his actions and the ACLU should be made to realize that defamation of character and fraud are not a right in our country.
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