In 1998, Justin Swidler, a 14-year-old middle school student in Pennsylvania, created his own website on his home computer that contained derogatory, profane, and threatening comments about his algebra teacher and principal. Among other things, the site showed a picture of his teacher’s head dripping with blood near and a caption that stated, “Why should she die?” listing several reasons why she should be killed.
The teacher allegedly suffered such extreme distress that she applied for medical leave. The school board concluded that because the website had such a demoralizing impact on the entire school community, Justin ought to be expelled.
Justin argued that the website was not to a true threat and was merely an exaggeration of his feelings about the teacher.
The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania ruled that the website was indeed not a true threat, but they also decided it was not against the student’s First Amendment rights for school officials to expel him, even though he created the website off-campus. The court wrote, “In sum, the website created disorder and significantly adversely impacted the delivery instruction.”
