Mahanoy v. B.L.

UPDATE: June 23, 2021 – Victory! On June 23rd, the US Supreme Court ruled in favor of high school student B.L. in Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L. This important ruling protects students’ freedom of speech off-campus, and is especially significant for students of historically marginalized backgrounds who experience disproportionate levels of discipline and scrutiny at school. Read the ruling here.

GLAD joined a friend-of-the-court brief in Mahanoy v. B.L., a case currently before the U.S. Supreme Court. The brief raises important issues about the potential impact of the Court’s decision in this case on students from historically marginalized backgrounds who experience disproportionate levels of harassment and school discipline, including LGBTQ students and students of color. We urge the Court to issue a ruling that allows schools to address off-campus speech that targets and invades the rights of students, but does not enable over-policing of out of school free speech.

Read NWLC’s blog post to learn more.

The brief was signed by the following organizations:

• National Women’s Law Center
• Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund
• Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
• Anti-Defamation League (ADL)
• California Women Lawyers
• Clearinghouse on Women’s Issues
• Coalition of Labor Union Women
• Equal Rights Advocates
• Equality California
• Faculty Against Rape
• Family Equality
• Gender Justice
• GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD)
• Human Rights Campaign
• Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault
• Kentucky Association of Sexual Assault Programs
• KWH Law Center for Social Justice and Change
• Legal Aid at Work
• Legal Momentum, the Women’s Legal Defense and Education Fund
• National Association of Social Workers (NASW)
• National Center for LGBTQ Rights
• National Organization for Women Foundation
• National Workrights Institute
• Network for Victim Recovery of DC
• People for the American Way Foundation
• PFLAG National
• Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice