ACLU Sues School for MySpace Penis Pop Pix Punishment

Two sophomore girls have sued their school after they were punished for posting lingerie photos on MySpace during their summer vacation which showed them licking a penis-shaped lollipop. This is not New York, New Jersey or even California folks. The girls live in rural Indiana.

The ACLU, in a federal lawsuit filed last week on behalf of the girls, argues that Churubusco High School violated the girls’ free speech rights when it banned them from extracurricular activities for a joke that didn’t involve the school. They say the district humiliated the girls by requiring them to apologize to an all-male coaches’ board and undergo counseling.

Some argue that schools should play a role in monitoring students’ behavior and Supreme Court has ruled that students can be disciplined for activities that happen outside of school, as long as the school can prove the activities were disruptive or posed a danger.

An attorney for the district claims the school was just enforcing the school’s athletic code which allows the principal to bar from school activities any student-athlete whose behavior in or out of school “creates a disruptive influence on the discipline, good order, moral or educational environment at Churubusco High School.”

The girls took the photos during a summer sleepover with friends and posted them on their MySpace pages, setting the privacy controls so only those designated as friends could view them. None of the photos made any reference to the school.

The principal initially suspended both girls from all extracurricular activities for the year but reduced the penalty to 25 percent of fall semester activities after the girls completed three counseling sessions and apologized to the coaches board.

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