cheerleader

Cheerleader’s F-Bombs Protected Under Free Speech, Says Supreme Court (Give Us an Eff Yeah!)

It’s a big fucking win for profanity! Last week, the Supreme Court ruled 8-1 that students can drop F-bombs galore (outside of school), and it’s all thanks to a cheerleader with a potty mouth.

Her name is Brandi Levy, and at the time of the incident in question, she was a 14-year-old attending high school in Pennsylvania. When she failed to advance from the junior varsity to the varsity cheerleading team at her school, she posted a photo of herself and a friend giving the middle finger on Snapchat with the message, “Fuck the school…Fuck cheer, Fuck everything.”

Levy was suspended from the cheer squad for disruptive behavior, but she didn’t take the punishment lying down. She and her parents took the school to court, arguing that the learning institution didn’t have jurisdiction over her words outside of school thanks to the First Amendment and couldn’t punish her for the Snapchat post.

A federal appeals court sided with Levy, but the school board took the issue all the way to the highest court in the land – where it lost miserably.

“If today’s decision teaches any lesson, it must be that the regulation of many types of off-premises student speech raises serious First Amendment concerns, and school officials should proceed cautiously before venturing into this territory,” wrote Justice Samuel Alito in an opinion.

Justice Clarence Thomas – ironically, no model of appropriate speech himself, especially in a professional context – was the sole dissenter of the court. We won’t justify his boorishness with a quote.

As for Levy, she’s now a college student, and is likely enjoying all the freedoms – linguistic and otherwise – that higher education has to offer. In her honor, we cheer: Give us an F! Give us a U! Give us a C! Give us a K! What’s that spell? Fuck yeah, free speech!

Cover Photo: Victoria Snowber (Getty Images)

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