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Court Finds For Student In Web FOS Case
An anonymous reader writes "A student who brought a suit against his middle school has been awarded a settlement after two years of legal battles. USAToday reports that the suit was brought after the school leveled harsh disciplinary measures against the student, based entirely on comments made to his website guestbook." From the article: "Grayson Barber, who handled the case on behalf of the ACLU, said the school presented no evidence that Dwyer's comments were threatening or disruptive of school activities. 'Our schools should encourage debate and political engagement rather than punishing students who provide a forum for free expression.'"
Wow! I'm so used to the ACLU fighting on the other side saying that students don't have freedom of speech because it violates separation of church and state, mentions God, etc. It's a wonderful thing when they fight for the rights of the students and not against.
From TFA:
"While my parents and I are happy the case is resolved, most importantly, I'm hopeful this will help ensure that free speech rights of students aren't trampled on again in the future," said Dwyer, who is now in 11th grade.
He just got $120,000 because his school suspended him for a week, and he's going to say that the most important thing about the case to him was the free speech rights? For some reason, I'm skeptical.
I hate the one hundred and twenty character limit for signatures with an all-enveloping, all-destroying, incredible pass
Firstly, youse obveosly never saws tink lay the smack down on nobody.
Twosly , your right. Not all americans is morons, some is assholes.
You sir are a prime example of this type of behavior, and I assume you are quite proud of yourself. "Those who can do, those who can't teach." You could bring nothing germaine to the conversation, so you simply attempt to teach grammar and spelling.
Quite a telling indictment if you ask me.
Ah, well. Enough baiting the trolls.
Unreal. Let me explain the other side for those too one eyed and ignorant to consider it themselves.
Disrespectful nasty little child who has inadequate parent(s). As his parents spend too much time drunk, drugged or absent, they never got around to instilling any values into him. So little darling Johnny goes off to school every day to make life hell for everyone in his own personal ethical void.
He decides to slander a person working at the school by writing insulting things about them in his guestbook then goes around the school instructing people to go to the site and check out what he wrote about old Mr XYZ.
He is confronted by XYZ and responds aggressively and defiantly. If this was your wife or son being slandered and ridiculed at school as a direct result, would your heart stop bleeding for this impudent curr of a child? I would suspect so since the only thing that forces empathy on the selfish is experience.
Next little Johnny goes home and cries to Mommy or Daddy about how Mr XYZ was so mean to him. Mummy or Daddy, racked with guilt about how much they neglect their child in pursuit of their own interests, massively over-react and fail to consider that their child is only telling them HALF THE STORY, JUST LIKE THIS ARTICLE.
This message was written with the express purpose of prying open the "other" eye of civil libitarians.
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