MICHIGAN — A high school student who was suspended and taken to a psychiatric hospital after posting offensive comments on the Internet is now suing to clear his record, obtain monetary damages and have the school district’s disciplinary policy declared unconstitutional.
\n\n Joshua Mahaffey was given a 143-day suspension from Waterford Kettering High School in September 2001 for ”assault, behavior dangerous to self and others, harassment and Internet violations.”
\n\n Mahaffey’s First Amendment rights were violated, his lawyer Richard Landau said, because Mahaffey did not use school computers to post his comments, nor did he violate the school’s Internet policy.