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Wednesday, October 5, 2011

4th Circuit Court of Appeals issues important internet bullying decision

Kowalski v. BERKLEY COUNTY SCHOOLS (4th Cir. 2011): Student K.K. set up a My Space page targeting a fellow student at her high school. She did so on her home computer. The Court determined that the student used the internet “ to orchestrate a targeted attack on a classmate, and did so in a manner that was sufficiently connected to the school environment as to implicate the School District's recognized authority to discipline speech which "materially and substantially interfere[es] with the requirements of appropriate discipline in the operation of the school and collid[es] with the rights of others.”” The Court, thus, upheld the suspension of K.K.