Ruled teen's blog post created a created "foreseeable risk of substantial disruption"
By YVONNE NAVA and LEANNE GENDREAU
Thu, May 28, 2009
President Barack Obama’s nominee to fill a Supreme Court vacancy has yet another tie to Connecticut. She sided against a student in the infamous “douche bag” case, and that has upset some free-speech advocates.
In August 2007, Judge Sonia Sotomayor sat on a panel that ruled against an appeal in Doninger v. Niehoff.
Avery Doninger was disqualified from running for school government at Lewis S. Mills High School in Burlington after she posted something on her blog, referring to the superintendent and other officials as "douche bags" because they canceled a battle of the bands she had helped to organize.
The case went to court and in March 2008, Sotomayor was on a panel that heard Doninger’s mother’s appeal alleging her daughter’s free speech and other rights were violated. Her mother wanted to prevent the school from barring her daughter from running.
Sotomayor joined two other judges from the 2nd Circuit in ruling that the student’s off-campus blog remarks created a “foreseeable risk of substantial disruption” at the student’s high school and that the teenager was not entitled to a preliminary injunction reversing a disciplinary action against her, Education Week reports.
In their opinion, the judges said they were “sympathetic" to her disappointment at being disqualified from running for Senior Class Secretary and acknowledged her belief that in this case, “the punishment did not fit the crime.”
However, the judges decided they were not called upon to determine if school officials acted wisely.
“As the Supreme Court cautioned years ago, “[t]he system of public education that has evolved in this Nation relies necessarily upon the discretion and judgment of school administrators and school board members,” and we are not authorized to intervene absent “violations of specific constitutional guarantees.”
Related Stories
"D-Bag" Bill Heads to Senate
"D Bag" Bill Would Protect Online Free Speech
Judge Ends Free Speech Argument
The ruling in this case has come under heavy criticism from some civil libertarians. Some say this case presents a solid rationale for rejecting Judge Sonia Sotomayor of New York’s Second Circuit Court of Appeals to fill the seat of retiring Justice David Souter.
“The continual expansion of the authority of school officials over student speech teaches a foul lesson to these future citizens,” Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University, told the New Britain Herald. “I would prefer some obnoxious speech [rather] than teaching students that they must please government officials if they want special benefits or opportunities.”
Trying to secure the Mexican vote for the next go around.
ReplyDeleteMight as well secure it. The GOP obviously does not want it.
ReplyDeleteThis women is someone to be very afraid of being a racist bigot thank goodness she's not very bright.
ReplyDelete"racist bigot"
ReplyDeleteNice to see Newt Gingrich is getting his talking points across.
Don't forget she wants our guns too!
ReplyDeleteShe was a member ( and may still be) of a radical marxist Hispanic group called La Raza, This alone warrants extreme reasons to vet her thouroughly.
ReplyDeleteOutstandig choice! Not very bright 12:50? My guess is that you finished first in her class at Princeton since she finished a lowly second.
ReplyDeleteGet a thought, idea, point, phrase or even an opinion of your own. Stop drinking the wingnut kool-aid.
just what we need, a racist, activist legislating from the bench.
ReplyDeleteShe's Puerto Rican not Mexican, Anon 12:25pm, maybe they're trying to get the Hispanic vote.
ReplyDelete12:50 anon says she's a racist bigot and 2:12 anon thinks the "not very bright" comment is offensive, LMAO...that's really funny.
I don't think she's a bigot but she's definitely a racist and her story is not better than Justice Thomas, read his book.
Now hear this:
ReplyDeleteThe five justices who turned the Supreme Court around and upheld the ban on “partial birth abortion” had much in common. All are men. All were nominated by conservative Republican presidents. And, all are Roman Catholics.
Two of the Catholic justices, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, were confirmed fairly recently – as “W” Bush appointees. The other two date to a different Bush: Justices Thomas and Scalia.
Justice William Brennan, who was appointed by President Dwight Eisenhower, has turned out to be one of the key supporters of the constitutional right to abortion. “There can be no greater proponent of a pro-choice vision of the 14th amendment than William Brennan,” said David Yalof, an associate professor of political science at the University of Connecticut and a scholar of the judicial selection process.
What is her religious affiliation, if any?
Every decision that Obama has made is based on politics and votes. It makes me sick. He does not make ethical decisions. Just because she is Hispanic does not make her qualified. The ONLY reason he selected her was because he wanted to turn the Hispanic and women voters against the republicans. Now republicans are afraid to not support her. We will see who the coward republicans are who will give in. She bases her decisions on her opinions and not constitutional laws. It shouldn't matter about the color of someones skin (etc. new haven fire fighters)
ReplyDeleteHeaven forbid that one of our government officials might be an American! Where's my country dude?
ReplyDeleteIf everyone is an American, then, no one is an American.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the American Bar Association, she is a member of the National Council of La Raza (The Race).
ReplyDelete3:03
ReplyDelete"constitutional right to abortion"
LOL, this is the first time I've ever heard that the Constitution has a provision that gives a right to have an abortion.
boy these libs come up with new ways to trample the Constitution every day.
There is no constitutional right to kill unborn children.
ReplyDeleteWow. Hey everyone let's hate on her before we even really know her!
ReplyDeleteShe is not too bright. Although she's a proven to be a pretty good judge. Second in her class and all. More experience than a lot of others.
Must have picked her to get the Hispanic vote. Although she is more than qualified. That comment is just plain ignorant.
She bases her decisions on her opinions. Even though all judges, including the SCOTUS do. If you notice they don't vote the same based on their opinions.
Racist bigots. Your world is becoming smaller each day and so are your ideals.
5:23
ReplyDelete"Before we really know her" - Has she been a judge before. Yes
"She is not to bright. Although she's a proven to be a pretty good judge." - What? Many of her former law clerks (mostly dem)want President Obama to appoint a judicial star of the highest intellectual caliber who has the potential to change the direction of the court. They expressed questions about her temperament, her judicial craftsmanship, and most of all, for her ability to provide an intellectual counterweight to the conservative justices.
"Must have picked her to get the Hispanic vote. Although she is more than qualified. That comment is just plain ignorant." - Two New York Senators (Schumer, Gillibrand - Dem) wrote Obama a letter saying "We write to bring your attention to the shortage of representation of Latinos in the Federal Judiciary and strongly urge you to consider the Latino legal community when deciding your first appointment to the United States Supreme Court should a vacancy occur during your presidency."
"Racist bigots. Your world is becoming smaller each day and so are your ideals." - This is BS. I'm tired of this racist s***. I have never judged anyone by the color of their skin. Jobs shouldn't be given to anyone by the color of their skin. Only to the more qualified. I'm going to use the spelling bee for an example. There was maybe 2 white people in the mostly minorty group. Did those kids get there because of minority programs or because the judges thought they needed more minorties? No, its because they are qualified. They didn't get because the color of the skin. They earned there way up there
Did you know that's how bho won his first sen seat?
ReplyDeleteHe had all his competition eliminated one way or another. Look up Alice Palmer, if you don't believe.
...referring to the student who was dq'ed from running...
ReplyDeleteShe is a racist and amditted it.
ReplyDeleteA JUDGE SHOULD INTURPRET THE LAW regardless of race, color or creed. You don't as a judge side with people just because they are a minority. We don't need another carbon copy of Obama.