An upcoming United States Supreme Court decision arguably has the possibility of invalidating sections of the Dignity for All Students Act’s cyberbullying preventions. These are meant to target and prevent off-campus bullying and harassment, including instances that involve verbal or non-verbal actions.

In 2017, after being relegated to the JV cheerleading team for a second consecutive year, Brandi Levy, a rising high school sophomore, had sent two Snapchats to 250 of her friends displaying her dismay toward her coach’s decision. In her first photo, she and a friend were seen raising their middle fingers and wrote, “fuck school fuck softball fuck cheer fuck everything.” Afterward, she followed up with “Love how me and [another student] get told we need a year of JV before we make varsity but that doesn’t matter to anyone else?” She was subsequently suspended from the team for sending these.

These messages were sent on a weekend and occurred off of her school’s campus, yet Levy was nevertheless removed from the cheerleading team for her behavior per the Mahanoy Area High School’s Cheerleading Rules which state that ‘“[t]here will be no toleration of any negative information regarding cheerleading, cheerleaders, or coaches placed on the internet.”’ After appealing her removal to the athletic director, school principal, district superintendent and school board, Levy’s punishment was upheld and consequently, she sued the Mahanoy Area School District.

Was James Kahler insane when he murdered four of his family members, a crime for which a Kansas jury found him guilty and sentenced him to death? On March 23, in Kahler v. Kansas, the U.S. Supreme Court determined whether Kansas restricted the insanity defense too harshly for Kahler and therefore violated his due process rights. In their majority opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court found that the state of Kansas did not violate Kahler’s due process rights, ultimately impairing the defenses of mentally ill defendants in states that have adopted similarly restrictive standards for an insanity defense.

The 2020 Presidential election saw a race which culminated in a multi-day standoff as Americans awaited the final electoral college numbers that would determine who the next President of the United States would be. The ensuing fallout, which has been comprised of a misinformation campaign, voting conspiracy theories and a president who has yet to concede a lost election, has produced an outcome that constitutes an attack on United States democracy.

On Sept. 23rd, United States District Judge Mary Vyskocil dismissed a lawsuit brought against Fox News by Karen McDougal. In McDougal v. Fox News Network, McDougal, a former Playboy model and winner of Playmate of the year in 1998, alleged that a segment on Tucker Carlson’s show, in which she was accused of extortion, constituted slander. The judge’s decision to dismiss the case provides television viewers a bleak reminder about being aware of the sources of information they consume.

On July 23, the 9th United States Circuit Court of Appeals ordered that federal agents in Portland, Ore are blocked from “dispersing, arresting, threatening to arrest, or targeting force against journalists or legal observers at protests.” This order is a victory for the media and the protection of the First Amendment’s freedom of the press, especially as it pertains to news coverage of these protests which otherwise would have seen information suppressed and altered to fit the narrative of the federal government.