Brandi Levy reflects on landmark free speech case in public speaking debut at the Newhouse School
A conversation about free speech with Brandi Levy
The Pennsylvania cheerleader who challenged her social media suspension at the U.S. Supreme Court gave her first talk at SU.
Brandi Levy, the Pennsylvanian high schooler who was the plaintiff in Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L. (2021), made her public speaking debut at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications Thursday afternoon.
Professor Roy Gutterman, director of the Tully Center for Free Speech, moderated a conversation with Levy, who at 14 took to Snapchat to complain about not making Mahanoy Area High School’s varsity cheer squad. With middle fingers raised, she posted to over 200 Snapchat friends from an off-campus location:
“F— school f— softball f— cheer f— everything.”
Levy added in another post, “Love how me and [another student] get told we need a year of jv before we make varsity but that’s doesn’t matter to anyone else?🙃 ”
Some students and cheerleaders saw the post and reported it to coaches, who issued Levy a year-long suspension from the junior varsity team.
“I felt like it was too excessive — way too excessive. If they would have kicked me off for just a few games, or bench me and made me sit there and watch, I would have been fine with it,” Levy said to The NewsHouse.
Levy and her parents, backed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), sued the school in federal court and won, causing the Mahanoy Area School District to petition to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, which also sided with Levy.
But the school district persisted, and the case went to the U.S. Supreme Court.
In an 8-1 decision, the Supreme Court upheld the appellate court’s decision in favor of Levy, claiming that the school’s punishment violated Levy’s free speech rights under the First Amendment. The main reasons for the ruling included the off-campus setting, the unspecific and unnamed language, the use of a personal device and the non disruptive nature of the post.
“The school itself has an interest in protecting a student’s unpopular expression, especially when the expression takes place off campus. America’s public schools are the nurseries of democracy,” wrote Justice Breyer in an excerpt of the majority opinion read by Gutterman.
Levy and Gutterman, a communications law and First Amendment expert, discussed the broader implications of the case and the weighty history behind it.
The landmark Supreme Court case Tinker v. Des Moines (1969) established that, “It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.”
This quote set the precedent for all student speech litigation today, including Levy’s.
But Levy explained that she understands the fine line public schools must straddle in disciplining online content.
“I don’t think that they should have a say over some things, but to an extent. If it was a threat or harassment or bullying, I think the schools should be able to punish someone. But for me — I didn’t threaten anyone. I didn’t harass anyone. I wasn’t directing it towards anyone,” Levy said to Gutterman during their conversation.
As a teenager still involved with softball, cheer and other extracurriculars, Levy shared with students that the legal process overwhelmed her at times.
“It was just phone call, after phone call, after phone call with the lawyers, and at one point, I just kept saying I was sick of it — I didn’t want to do it anymore,” Levy said in response to an audience question.
Levy’s sheer relatability and approachableness resonated with attendees, most of whom were close in age to her.
Luisana Ortiz, a senior in Gutterman’s communications law class, thought Levy was a “unique” and “accessible” speaker.
“It really can just show people that they can go through the system no matter where they come from, or what their case is,” Ortiz said. “I think it’s also a good point in saying and showing people what a case could comprise of — something as simple as ‘Oh, it’s just a Snapchat of the f-word,’ but it really shows you all the different themes that are involved in it.”
Levy hoped attendees would take away the confidence to self-advocate in unjust situations at any level.
“I was excited to find out that I won only because I was able to show other kids what’s right and what’s not,” Levy said.
Four years after her Supreme Court journey, Levy still receives mail from families in similar situations, seeking guidance and connectivity.
“It just makes me feel good knowing that there’s something good coming out of this, and that it wasn’t just to make me feel better, to make me happier,” Levy said.