Supreme Court sides with Pennsylvania cheerleader punished for Snapchat post

Washington — The Supreme Court on Wednesday sided with a Pennsylvania cheerleader punished for a vulgar message shared on Snapchat, with the justices ruling the school violated the student's First Amendment rights when it disciplined her for the off-campus rant.

The high court rule 8-1 in favor of the cheerleader, Brandi Levy, with Justice Stephen Breyer writing the majority opinion. Justice Clarence Thomas dissented. The dispute centered around a message Levy posted to Snapchat on a Saturday in 2017 after learning she didn't make her school's varsity cheerleading team as a rising sophomore. In an act of frustration, Levy, then 14 and a freshman in the Mahanoy Area School District, shared with her 250 followers a self-deleting Snapchat of her and a friend raising their middle fingers, captioned with "f**k school f**k softball f**k cheer f**k everything."