The Supreme Court’s June 23 decision in Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L. appears to have cautiously restricted the ability of public schools to regulate the off-campus speech of their students. Despite an apparent win for First Amendment free speech rights, the decision leaves open the question of precisely when, where and how public school officials may regulate the First Amendment rights of their students.

With freshman year coming to a close, Brandi Levy, a student at Mahanoy Area High School, tried out for the varsity cheerleading team with the hope of joining it at the beginning of her sophomore year. She separately tried out for the right fielder position on a softball team. Unfortunately for Brandi, she did not get to be right fielder, and even worse, she was denied a spot on the varsity cheer team. To add insult to injury, while allowing an incoming freshman on the squad, the coaches told Brandi that she needed a year of junior varsity before joining the higher-ranking group.

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