Student expulsion over threatening social media post reversed by Pennsylvania appellate court

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania reversed the Rose Tree Media School District’s decision to expel a student who posted allegedly threatening song lyrics on his Snapchat, siding with the student and his First Amendment right to Free Speech. 

Key Players

G.S. was 16 and a junior at Penncrest High School when he made a Snapchat post deemed disruptive and unsettling by students and the school. 

Judge Ellen Ceisler of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, who was elected in 2017, sided with the student in an opinion setting forth a unanimous decision. 

Penncrest High School has an enrollment of more than 1,200 students and is located in Media, a suburb about 15 miles west of Philadelphia regarded as moderately liberal in its politics. 

Further Details

On April 1, 2018, G.S. wrote lyrics from the song “Snap” by death metal band Spite on his personal Snapchat account. “Everyone, I despise everyone! Fuck you, eat shit, blackout, the world is a graveyard! All of you, I will fucking kill off all of you! This is me, this is my snap!” G.S. wrote. 

According to Reason, the social media post was seen by some 65 followers, including students in the school district. At the time of the post, G.S. was off campus and not partaking in school-related activities. It was also not directed toward anyone, and G.S. did not indicate that a song was being quoted. 

Concerns were immediately reported to the school and police, and G.S. was later arrested, Patch reported. The next day, with G.S. in custody, police increased their presence at the school. Roughly a quarter of students were absent out of fear, according to Ceisler’s opinion. And those who were present “appeared to be anxious and upset, with many students and their families seeking assurances from staffers that the school was safe.” 

On April 4, 2018, Principal Norman Harrison notified G.S.’s parents that their son would be suspended for 10 days, beginning April 2. But five days later, he told them that the suspension was changed to be from April 5 to 18, and G.S. had been charged with harassment and making terrorist threats. 

On Aug. 13, 2018, G.S. was ultimately expelled from Penncrest High School for violating the district’s Student Discipline Code, as his post “materially disrupted class work, involved substantial disorder, and invaded the rights of others,” as expressed by the school district’s hearing officer.

Nearly two years later, on July 27, 2020, after G.S. had taken his case to the Court of Common Pleas in Delaware County, the expulsion was partially affirmed, but also reversed in part. While it was ruled that G.S. had not made terrorist threats, the court upheld the school district’s discretion to declare that the post constituted harassment and had disrupted the school environment.

Outcome 

Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court reverses expulsion

On Jan. 7, 2022, almost four years after the incident took place, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, one of two intermediate appellate courts below the state supreme court, reversed the expulsion. 

Ceisler’s opinion noted that while the content of the post was disturbing in its wording, “the First Amendment and Article I, Section 7 [the Free Speech provision of the Pennsylvania Constitution] mandate that public schools cannot exert control over their students’ off-campus speech unless there is a strong nexus between a given student’s expressive conduct and their school,” she wrote. 

Further, Ceisler did not believe G.S. had caused enough disturbance to justify an expulsion, given that his post had no clear target and he was not involved in any school activities at the time. In the proper context, she said, G.S.’s speech would have to “have been clearly targeted at a member or members of their school community or clearly pertained to school activities,” to warrant his expulsion.  

With no link to the school or fellow students, Ceisler said the expulsion of G.S. clearly violated both the First Amendment right to Free Speech and Article I, Section 7 of the Pennsylvania Constitution.