A federal appeals court in the Second Circuit has ruled that the Livingston Manor Central School District in New York violated the First Amendment when it disciplined a high‑school student for a social‑media post made off‑campus. The student, Case Leroy, posted a photo after hours showing him lying on the ground of a parking lot while a friend knelt on his neck, captioned “Cops got another.”
The school had suspended Leroy, alleging that his post was racist and part of a pattern of misconduct. A federal district judge initially supported the school’s decision, finding that the post caused a “substantial disruption” to campus life. However, on appeal the Second Circuit reversed that decision. In its opinion, the court emphasized that social‑media posts made off‑campus are not necessarily equivalent to on‑campus speech and that the school’s interest in promoting “racial sensitivity” did not automatically override Leroy’s free‑speech rights.
The ruling underscores how the Supreme Court’s 2021 decision in Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L. remains influential: schools face stricter scrutiny when attempting to discipline student speech that occurs off campus and outside of school‑sponsored events. In Mahanoy, the Court held that while schools can regulate certain off‑campus speech, doing so requires a detailed fact‑specific analysis rather than broad assumptions.
The decision raises important questions for school administrators: when does off‑campus conduct spill into the educational setting in a way that justifies discipline? The court here found that the link between Leroy’s post and the school environment was too attenuated to permit the punishment. For educators and policymakers, the ruling signals caution in stretching disciplinary authority over off‑campus student expression.
