When Students Speak Away From School How Much Does the First Amendment Hear?

Controversies arising over the extent of the First Amendment speech rights of public school students while at school are resolved by an analysis of the familiar quartet of major decisions of the United States Supreme Court: Tinker, Fraser, Kuhlmeier, and Morse. While these decisions have not removed all uncertainty over the scope of student speech rights, they at least have divided these cases into distinct categories and identified the standard to be applied within each category. The wide range of judicial views on the issue of when student off-campus speech can be the basis of discipline by school authorities makes it difficult for schools to develop sound policies to address this situation. Until a more definitive answer is provided by the U.S. Supreme Court, schools face this issue without clear judicial guidance