Student suspended for off-campus MySpace parody of principal
Justin Layshock, a senior at Hickory High School in Hermitage, Pennsylvania, was suspended in 2005 and placed in an alternative-education program after creating a fake MySpace profile of his principal from his grandmother's computer. The Third Circuit ruled in 2011 that the school violated his First Amendment rights.
In December 2005, Hickory High School senior Justin Layshock created a parody MySpace profile of Principal Eric Trosch using a photograph from the school district website, on a computer at his grandmother's house. The district suspended Layshock for 10 days, banned him from extracurriculars and graduation, and assigned him to the Alternative Curriculum Education program. The ACLU of Pennsylvania sued. In Layshock v. Hermitage School District, 650 F.3d 205 (3d Cir. 2011) (en banc), the Third Circuit unanimously held the district could not punish Layshock for off-campus speech absent a sufficient nexus to the school.