The U.S. Supreme Court began hearing arguments on Wednesday in the Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L. case. The case centers on whether the district was within its rights to discipline the student for her expletive laced Snapchat posts to a group of friends after school hours.

The decision is likely to determine whether schools can discipline off-campus speech, namely speech made on social media, and reframe the “Tinker Standard” established through the Court’s 1969 opinion in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, which held that public schools can discipline or regulate speech involving substantial disruption of school operations.

Education Group chair, William Zee, Esquire was interviewed by K-12 Dive and provided his insight on the case. Zee noted that "It's the most important student speech case in five decades” and will guide student speech issues on the K-12 environment for the next generation.

 To read more of Zee's commentary on this important case, click here.