Jurisdiction & Case Number
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania: Civil Action No. 2:06-cv-116
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit: Nos. 07-4465, 07-4555
Current Status
Following the Third Circuit's en banc decisions in both Layshock and Synder, the appellants in Layshock merged their petition to the Supreme Court with the appellants in Blue Mountain School District v. Snyder. The petition to the Supreme Court was filed as Blue Mountain School District v. Snyder, and is presently pending before the Supreme Court. Respondents' response is due on Friday, December 16, 2011. The Supreme Court will hold its first conference following this deadline on Friday, January 6, 2012, in which it may decide whether or not to hear this case.
Description
[Note: The following case description is reproduced on this blog with permission from the Citizen Media Law Project (http://www.citmedialaw.org) pursuant to its Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License. The information contained in this entry is based on court filings and other informational sources that may contain unproven allegations made by the parties. The truthfulness and accuracy of such information is likely to be in dispute.]
In December 2005, high school student Justin Layshock posted a fake MySpace page parodying his high school principal, Eric Trosch. Layshock posted a picture of Trosch and answered the questions asked by the site's profile template by riffing on the word "big" because Trosch is apparently a large man. Answers included phrases like "big faggot," "big hard ass," and "big dick." To the question, "what did you do on your last birthday," Layshock answered "too drunk to remember." Layshock created the profile from a computer at his grandmother's home.
School officials discovered the profile, and the school distict suspended Layshock for 10 days, ordered him to finish high school in an "Alternative Education Program," and forbid him from attending graduation. The school backtracked on part of this disciplinary action, however, and Layschock was allowed to return to regular classes. He graduated in Spring 2006.
Layshock and his parents sued the school district and various school officials in federal district court in Pennsylvania, claiming (1) that the school's punishment violated his First Amendment rights, (2) that the school's policies and rules were vague and/or overbroad in violation of the First Amendment; and (3) that the school's punishment violated Layshock's parents' Fourteenth Amendment rights to raise, nurture, discipline and educate him.
In July 2007, the district court granted summary judgment to Layshock on his claim that that the school's punishment violated his First Amendment rights and ordered a trial to determine whether he is entitled to compensatory damages for that violation. The court granted summary judgment to the defendants on all other counts.
Eric Trosch subsequently sued Layshock and three other students in Pennsylvania state court for defamation based on this and two other fake MySpace profiles. (Please see the related CMLP Database entry for more information).
SOURCE: Citizen Media Law Project (http://www.citmedialaw.org).
Parties and Counsel
- Plaintiffs/Appellees/Cross-Appellants: Justin Layshock, a minor, by and through his parents, Donald Layshock and Cheryl Layshock, individually and on behalf of their son.
- Counsel: Kim M. Watterson, William J. Sheridan, and Richard T. Ting, Reed Smith LLP; Witold J. Walczak and Sara J. Rose, ACLU of Pennsylvania.
- Attorneys for Amicus Curiae: John W. Whitehead, The Rutherford Institute; Joanna J. Cline, Brian A. Berkley, Joshua B. Hirshey, and Emmett M. Hogan, Pepper Hamilton LLP; Frank D. LoMonte, Michael C. Hiestand, and Adam Goldstein, The Student Press Law Center; Robert D. Richards and Clay Calvert, Pennsylvania Center for the First Amendment.
- Defendants/Appellants/Cross-Appellees: Hermitage School District; Karen Ionta, District Superintendent; Eric W. Trosch, Principal Hickory High School; and Chris Gill, Co-Principal, Hickory High School, all in their official and individual capacities.
- Counsel: Anthony G. Sanchez, Christine Lane, & Beth S. Mills, Andrews & Price LLC.
- Attorney for Amicus Curiae: Sean A. Fields, Pennsylvania School Boards Association.
Briefs and Documents
- Layshock's Complaint in Federal Court (1/27/06) (click here)
- W.D. Penn. Memorandum Opinion and Order (7/10/07) (McVerry, J.) (click here)
- Joint Motion to Stipulate Damages (11/13/07) (click here)
- W.D. Penn. Order of Final Judgment (11/14/07) (McVerry, J.) (click here)
- Hermitage Sch. Dist. et al. Appellate Brief to the Third Circuit (3/27/08) (click here)
- Layshock's Appellate Brief to the Third Circuit (5/22/08) (click here)
- Third Circuit Opinion (2/4/10) (McKee, CJ., Smith & Roth, JJ.) (click here)
- W.D. Penn. Order for En Banc Rehearing for Appeal No. 07-4465 (4/9/10) (McVerry, J.) (click here)
- Third Circuit Opinion (6/13/11) (en banc) (click here)
- Hermitage Sch. Dist. et al. Petition for a Writ of Certiorari to U.S. Supreme Court (10/14/11) (click here)
SOURCE: Citizen Media Law Project (http://www.citmedialaw.org).
Case Updates
- 11/13/2007 - Parties jointly moved for final judgment and to stipulate damages of $10,000 to the Layshocks contingent on appeal.
- 11/14/2007 - Judge entered the judgment.
- 11/21/2007 - Hermitage School District filed notification of its intent to appeal.
- 11/30/2007 - Layshocks filed notification of their intent to cross appeal.
- 3/27/2008 - Hermitage School District filed its appellate brief.
- 5/22/2008 - Layshocks filed their appellate brief.
- 12/10/2008 - Case was argued before the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.
- 02/04/2010 - The Third Circuit upheld the lower court's rulings.
- 04/09/2010 - The Third Circuit granted the Hermitage School District's petition for an en banc rehearing on whether it violated Layshock's First Amendment rights.
- 10/14/2011- Hermitage Sch. Dist. et al. Petition for a Writ of Certiorari to U.S. Supreme Court (click here)
SOURCE: Citizen Media Law Project (http://www.citmedialaw.org).
Related Links
- ACLU: Layshock v. Hermitage School District
- Post-Gazette Now: Punished for Parody, Student Sues School
- Post-Gazette Now: Judge Hears Case of Teen Punished for Web Parody
- MLRC's Legal Actions and Developments Involving Blogs
- Poste-Gazette Now: Appeals court: MySpace parody is protected speech
- AP: Rulings cloud issue of school MySpace suspensions
- CMLP's Database Entry on the Related Trosch v. Layshock Lawsuit
SOURCE: Citizen Media Law Project (http://www.citmedialaw.org).
*Last updated on 11/26/11
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