concluding that an analysis of whether student speech infringes on the right to be let alone may “look different in the elementary- school context” given that elementary students are “more susceptible to coercion and peer pressure” than older students
How later courts described this case
- concluding that an analysis of whether student speech infringes on the right to be let alone may “look different in the elementary- school context” given that elementary students are “more susceptible to coercion and peer pressure” than older students
- holding, for the majority, that discriminating against student speech on the basis of religious viewpoint violated the First Amendment and concluding, in dissent, that the right was clearly established
- holding that student passing out pencils with the word “Jesus” on them during non-curricular time was protected by the First Amendment
- holding “[t]he defendants in this case are entitled to qualified immunity because existing precedent failed to place the constitutionality of their conduct ‘beyond debate’ ”
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
EMILIO M. GARZA, Circuit Judge,
specially concurring:
I completely agree with the first paragraph of Chief Judge Jones’s special concurrence, which concludes that the principals are entitled to qualified immunity because clearly established law did not put the constitutionality of their actions beyond debate. Accordingly, I join the first part of her opinion.
However, because we are ruling on a motion to dismiss, I am reluctant to proceed further and declare as a matter of law, based only on the pleadings, that these incidents constituted First Amendment violations. As the Supreme Court has articulated, “[wjhen qualified immunity is asserted at the pleading stage, the precise factual basis for the plaintiffs claim or claims may be hard to identify,” and deciding whether a violation has occurred “is an uncomfortable exercise where ... the answer [to] whether there was a violation may depend on a kaleidoscope of facts not yet fully developed.” Pearson v. Callahan, 555 U.S. 223, 238-39 , 129 S.Ct. 808 , 172 L.Ed.2d 565 (2009) (internal citations and quotation marks omitted).