Federal Judge Allows Former High School Student’s Case Against School Over Two-Word Tweet To Proceed

A federal district court is allowing some of a former high school student’s claims against a school district and a police chief to move forward after the school district and police investigated his two word tweet, “Actually, yes,” in response to an anonymous Internet post concerning whether he had “made out” with a female teacher at his school.

Reid Sagehorn was suspended and threatened with expulsion after he tweeted his answer to the post in 2014 from off-campus. He alleged that his tweet was a joke.  Nevertheless, the school administration suspended him, ultimately for 10 days, and the police investigated the situation. Mr. Sagehorn ultimately withdrew from the school, claiming constructive expulsion, and enrolled in another high school to finish his education. After the police filed a report, the district attorney declined to file charges against him. In June of last year, Mr. Sagehorn filed, among others, First and Fourteenth Amendment claims against the school district and the police chief, and a defamation claim against the chief.

The court found out that Sagehorn’s speech is not demonstrably obscene, and thus the school district cannot regulate it.  Next, the school district could not demonstrate that Sagehorn’s off-campus speech did not rise to a level that would be disruptive on campus. Next, the school district could regulate student speech that is lewd and/or offensive if it is on-campus speech or “directed at” the on-campus environment, but Sagehorn’s speech was off-campus speech and not clearly directed at the on-campus environment.

The court also found that Sagehorn had adequately pleaded a case for defamation against the police chief, who had given statements to the press about the case, even though he had not named Sagehorn.

 More here at Sagehorn v. Independent School District.  (U.S.D.C., Dist. of Minnesota, Civil No. 14-1930, JRT/BRT).