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Through her parents, Mandi Jackson, a student at Pearl High School in Pearl, Miss., filed suit against the district on June 16 in the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Mississippi, claming the incident violated her constitutional rights to free speech and privacy, among others.

On Sept. 10, 2007, Pearl High School cheerleading coach Tommie Hill required each member of the cheerleading squad to reveal the passwords to their Facebook accounts, according to the suit.

Many of the students immediately deleted their accounts using their mobile phones, said Jackson's attorney Rita Nahlik Silin. Jackson did not delete her account.

The suit alleges Hill later logged onto Jackson's Facebook account and disseminated content — including private messages with another Pearl High School student — to other teachers, cheerleading coaches, and the principal and superintendent.

According to the suit, the officials "reprimanded, punished, and humiliated" Jackson for an exchange of profanity-laced messages between Jackson and the cheerleading captain in which Jackson asked the student to "stop harassing" several of the cheerleaders.

"I would have been completely fine with the school officials looking at my public [profile on] Facebook, but I think they went too far with getting my password and looking at my personal messages between me and my peers," Jackson, 16, said in a message. "They were conversations between me and my friends so I shouldn't have gotten in trouble for them."

As a result of her private Facebook content, Jackson was not allowed to attend cheerleading practices, participate in football games or partake in school events for which she had already paid participation fees, according to the suit.

"There was a blatant violation of her right to privacy, her right to free speech, her right to free association and her right to due process," Silin said. "It's egregious to me that a [then] 14-year-old girl is essentially told you can't speak your mind, can't publish anything, can't be honest or have an open discussion with someone without someone else essentially eavesdropping."

Jackson said the coaches were initially looking for photos of students drinking or smoking, which she noted would have been visible on students' public profiles.

The ordeal impacted Jackson's ability to try out for the cheerleading squad the following year, she said, because her removal from the squad affected her ability to train for the tryouts. Jackson, a cheerleader since 6th grade, said it would be difficult to rejoin the team after the ordeal.

Several months after the incident, Jackson was nominated for a "spirit stick" award for the previous year, but the coaches said she did not deserve the honor, Silin said. Jackson also did not take certain academic courses because the cheer coaches taught them.

School district officials deferred comment to Superintendent John Lander for any pending litigation. Lander did not return messages for comment.

Silin said they believe Hill accessed Jackson's Facebook outside of school because the district's Internet filter blocks the site. Jackson sent the private messages on her personal time while off-campus.

"Nothing was ever done on school property, on school time, or at school events," Silin said. "This was purely at her home, separate from the school."

Silin said she is not aware of any clause in the district's policy that allows administrators to punish students for social networking content — much less, demand their passwords. The school does have a conduct code for cheerleaders, which asks them to be "role models to all," Silin said. But that should not "extend to her private conversations with another student," Silin added.

Silin said the incident has left a lasting impact on her client, who is now a junior at PHS.

"Even now she's afraid to speak her mind on anything," Silin said. "Because of this situation, she's afraid of being punished for anything she does inside or outside the school."