LITTLETON, CO -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado announced
today that an agreement has been reached between Littleton High School and
school authorities and junior Bryan Lopez, who was suspended for posting
satirical commentary about the school the Internet.
Lopez is now
back in school after ACLU of Colorado attorneys reached an agreement with school
district officials on Monday evening, averting a federal lawsuit they were
prepared to file on Lopez’s behalf Tuesday morning.
“I am pleased
that Littleton school officials were willing to resolve this dispute without a
lawsuit,” said Hugh Gottschalk, an ACLU of Colorado cooperating attorney
on Lopez’s case. “A student’s right of expression is protected by
the First Amendment. School authorities have some ability to regulate
students’ expressive activities on school grounds and at school-related
functions. But school authorities do not have the right to impose
discipline for statements that students make off campus, especially when, as in
this case, those statements do not cause any material disruption of the
educational process.”
Lopez used his home computer to post
his commentary on the web site MySpace.com on February 7. The message contained
satirical commentary about the poor physical condition of Littleton High School,
the behavior and demographics of students and staff, the perceived racial biases
of teachers and administrators, and the poor quality of the resources available
to students.
Once posted, the commentary was not accessible
to students from any school computers, because the school’s Internet filters
block access to MySpace.com. Nor was the commentary accessible to
the general public; it was available only to specific persons to whom. Lopez had
provided a password.
“Apparently one of Bryan Lopez’s
classmates accessed the website, copied the commentary, and then re-posted it on
his own website,” said Mark Silverstein, ACLU of Colorado Legal Director.
Soon after, Littleton High School administrators obtained a copy
of Lopez’s satirical commentary. On February 10, they suspended him for
five days on the basis of a school policy that forbids students from engaging in
conduct, either on campus or off-campus, “that is detrimental to the welfare or
safety of other students or district employees.” The school superintendent
then added an additional 10 days to the suspension, to give administrators
additional time to decide whether to begin proceedings to expel Lopez from
school. He missed six days of school before the ACLU and the school
district resolved the controversy.
“The school district deserves
credit for agreeing to resolve this issue promptly, allow Mr. Lopez back in
school, and remove all mention of the suspension from our client’s school
record,” Silverstein said. “Although the ACLU was prepared to file a
lawsuit on Tuesday morning," he added, "our client risked missing even more days
of classes while we waited for the court to rule.”