MAHANOY CITY, Pa. — The case of a former high school cheerleader from Mahanoy City is this week heading to the United States Supreme Court.
At issue is whether public schools can discipline students about what they say when they are not at school.
“It's tiring. It was four years. I just don't understand why the school kept pushing. Like I don't go there anymore,” said 18-year-old Brandi Levy.
Brandi says she's just as frustrated with the Mahanoy Area School District as she was in 2017.
That year, the then 14-year-old Brandi was upset for being kept on the Mananoy Golden Bear's junior varsity cheerleading team.
So, during the weekend, while off school property, she posted a message to Snapchat that said, “F-school, F-softball, F-cheer, F-everything.”
The district found out and suspended her from cheerleading for a year.
“The school shouldn't be able to punish me or other students for how they feel for saying how they feel,” said Brandi.
Brandi's parents fought back, filing a suit against the district, saying their daughter's First Amendment rights were being violated.
After her parents won their case in the lower courts, it is now expected to be heard by the United States Supreme Court via telephone this Wednesday.
“This was a situation where there was no target. The school wasn't targeted. There was no threat. It was just an emotion on how she felt that day,” said Brandi's father, Larry Levy.
When they started on this fight for her First Amendment, Brandi and her family said they never expected it to last this long.
Brandi is now a freshman at Bloomsburg University. She and her family just want this to be resolved in their favor yet again.
“I didn't expect it to go this far. I thought something like that would be settled in the earlier stages,” said Larry.
“I don't even go to this school anymore. I don't know what they're trying to prove anymore,” said Brandi.
The ACLU is representing Brandi's case.