Judge To Address Constitutional Issues and Blogging September 17

"Constitutional Decision Making at the Forefront of Technology: How Courts Decide Cases Where There is Little Guidance"

Friday, September 17, 2010 -- 4:30 p.m.

Science Library Reading Room (Exley Science Center 146)

Wesleyan University

Church Street, Middletown

The Honorable Mark R. Kravitz ‘72, United States District Judge, will give a talk focusing on student social networking, the First Amendment and the ability of schools (particularly high schools) to discipline student behavior that occurs on social networks. The conduct at issue can range from cyberbullying other students, to defamation of students or teachers, to overt threats against students or teachers, to disruptive speech directed at fellow students or teachers.  The Supreme Court has not yet addressed student speech occurring on social networks and outside of school grounds on the Internet.  That leaves lower courts (not to mention school officials) with the difficult task of assessing whether the Supreme Court's prior precedents on First Amendment speech and student discipline provide much guidance when assessing whether student discipline for using this new technology violates the First Amendment.

For more information, visit www.wesleyan.edu/libr/friends or email  libfriends@wesleyan.edu.

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