Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/20pdf/20-255_g3bi.pdf
Page Number: 31.0

Cite as:  594 U. S. ____ (2021) 

17 

ALITO, J., concurring 

hurtful remarks about other students.23  Bullying and se-
vere  harassment  are  serious  (and  age-old)  problems,  but
these concepts are not easy to define with the precision re-
quired  for  a  regulation  of  speech.   See,  e.g.,  Saxe  v.  State 
College  Area  School  Dist.,  240  F. 3d  200,  206–207  (CA3 
2001). 

V 
The present case does not fall into any of these categories. 
Instead, it simply involves criticism (albeit in a crude man-
ner) of the school and an extracurricular activity.  Unflat-
tering speech about a school or one of its programs is differ-
ent  from  speech  that  criticizes  or  derides  particular
individuals, and for the reasons detailed by the Court and
by Judge Ambro in his separate opinion below, the school’s
justifications for punishing B. L.’s speech were weak.  She 
sent the messages and image in question on her own time
while at a local convenience store.  They were transmitted
via a medium that preserved the communication for only 24
hours, and she sent them to a select group of “friends.”  She 
did not send the messages to the school or to any adminis-
trator, teacher, or coach, and no member of the school staff 
would  have  even  known  about  the  messages  if  some  of 
B. L.’s “friends” had not taken it upon themselves to spread
the word. 

The  school  did  not  claim  that  the  messages  caused  any 
significant disruption of classes.  The most it asserted along 

—————— 

23 See, e.g., S. J. W. v. Lee’s Summit R–7 School Dist., 696 F. 3d 771, 
773–774  (CA8  2012)  (high  school  juniors  posted  a  variety  of  offensive, 
racist,  and  sexually-explicit  comments  about  particular  female  class-
mates);  Kowalski  v.  Berkeley  County  Schools,  652  F. 3d  565,  567–568 
(CA4 2011) (student created an online discussion group accusing another 
student of having a sexually-transmitted disease); Dunkley v. Board of 
Ed. of Greater Egg Harbor Regional High School Dist., 216 F. Supp. 3d
485, 487 (NJ 2016) (student used an anonymous Twitter account to insult 
other students based on their appearances and athletic abilities).