Tennessee Public School Sued After Suspending A Student Over Instagram Memes

Published

2 years ago

July 20, 2023

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Last year, a Tennessee high school suspended a junior for three days as punishment for a series of playful Instagram posts lampooning the principal. According to a new lawsuit , that suspension was unconstitutional.

Referred to in the lawsuit as I.P., the student, who attends Tullahoma High School in Tullahoma, Tennessee, made several Instagram posts while off campus. The posts were humorous depictions of Jason Quick, the school’s principal. The photos , according to the student, were intended to lampoon Quick’s reputation as a strict and humorless administrator. For example, In one post, a photo of Quick holding a box of produce has the text “my brotha” added to it. In another, Quick’s face is placed over a picture of an anime cat.

The posts didn’t disrupt school, but Quick ordered the student to receive a five-day suspension. The punishment was later downgraded to a three-day suspension when I.P. suffered a severe panic attack after being informed of the five-day suspension. School officials justified the suspension by claiming that the student had violated school policies barring students from posting pictures that “result[] in the embarrassment, demeaning, or discrediting of any student or staff” and are “unbecoming of a Wildcat .”

According to the lawsuit, the school maintained I.P.’s punishment even when given a legal letter informing them that they were violating his First Amendment Rights under Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L. The 2021 Supreme Court decisionheld that public schools cannot punish students for non-disruptive off-campus expression.

On Wednesday, I.P. filed a lawsuit with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a First Amendment nonprofit. The suit challenges the school’s social media policies as unconstitutionally vague and argues that school administrators had no legal right to suspend him for his off-campus Instagram posts.

“I.P.’s posts are protected First Amendment expression because they satirized a government official and did not create material disruption, cause substantial disorder, or invade the rights of others at school. The posts likewise did not cause Defendants to reasonably forecast such a disruption,” reads the 48-page complaint . “There is no legitimate, let alone compelling, state interest in prohibiting students from engaging in non-disruptive speech about school staff or other students outside school hours and away from school property.

While stuffy administrators might not like it, public schools don’t get to act as around-the-clock censors of students’ speech. Once students are off school grounds, their public schools have no right to punish them for expression that doesn’t cause a substantial disruption at schooleven if they find that expression offensive or embarrassing.

Politics

Crypto isn’t crashing the American dream; it’s renovating it

Published

2 hours ago

July 27, 2025

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Crypto isn’t crashing the American dream; it’s renovating it

The US housing regulator’s decision to recognize crypto assets in mortgage applications marks a historic shift from exclusion to integration, opening new pathways to homeownership.

Business

US and EU agree trade deal, says Donald Trump

Published

3 hours ago

July 27, 2025

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US and EU agree trade deal, says Donald Trump

The United States and European Union have agreed a trade deal, says Donald Trump.

The announcement was made as the US president met European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen at one of his golf resorts in Scotland.

Speaking after talks in Turnberry, Mr Trump said the EU deal was the “biggest deal ever made” and it will be “great for cars”.

The US will impose 15% tariffs on EU goods into America, after Mr Trump had threatened a 30% levy.

He said there will be an EU investment of $600bn in the US, the bloc will buy $750bn in US energy and will also purchase US military equipment.

Mr Trump had earlier said the main sticking point was “fairness”, citing barriers to US exports of cars and agriculture.

He went into the talks demanding fairer trade with the 27-member EU and threatening steep tariffs to achieve that, while insisting the US will not go below 15% import taxes.

For months, Mr Trump has threatened most of the world with large tariffs in the hope of shrinking major US trade deficits with many key trading partners, including the EU.

Ms von der Leyen said the agreement would include 15% tariffs across the board, saying it would help rebalance trade between the two large trading partners.

In case there was no deal and the US had imposed 30% tariffs from 1 August, the EU has prepared counter-tariffs on €93bn (£81bn) of US goods.

Ahead of their meeting on Sunday, Ms von der Leyen described Mr Trump as a “tough negotiator and dealmaker”.

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