Doninger v. Niehoff

Doninger v. Niehoff, 527 F.3d 41 (2d Cir. 2008) was a United States Court of Appeals case. The case was heard by a three-judge Second Circuit panel that included Judges Sonia Sotomayor, Loretta A. Preska, and Debra Livingston.^[1] The case involved a student at Lewis S. Mills High School in Connecticut who was barred from the student government after she called the superintendent and other school officials "douchebags" in a LiveJournal blog post written while off-campus that encouraged students to call an administrator and "piss her off more".^[1] Judge Livingston held that the district judge did not abuse his discretion in holding that the student's speech "foreseeably create[d] a risk of substantial disruption within the school environment,"^[2] which is the precedent in the Second Circuit for when schools may regulate off-campus speech^[1] On October 31, 2011, the United States Supreme Court declined to grant certiorari on Ms. Doninger's appeal.^[3]

Criticism

Although Sotomayor did not write this opinion, she has been criticized by some who disagree with it.^[4]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/2nd/073885p.pdf
2. ^ Doninger v. Niehoff, at page 15, http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/2nd/073885p.pdf
3. ^ Walsh, Mark. "Justices Decline Student Internet Speech Case, Others Await". Education Week. http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/school_law/2011/11/high_court_declines_student_in.html. Retrieved 2 November 2011. 
4. ^ Steve Collins (May 28, 2009). "Sotomayor had key role in Doninger case". New Britain Herald. http://www.newbritainherald.com/articles/2009/05/28/news/doc4a1df5e55148d604572983.txt.