| Lewis S. Mills High School | |
|---|---|
| Established | 1962 |
| Type | Public |
| Location | Burlington, Connecticut, USA |
| Website | http://www.region10ct.org/ |
Lewis S. Mills High School is a public high school located in Burlington, Connecticut. It is part of Regional School District #10 serving Harwinton and Burlington, Connecticut.
Lewis S. Mills High School is currently embroiled in a civil rights lawsuit brought by (former student) Avery Doninger against Principal Karissa Niehoff (now retired) and Superintendent (now retired) Paula Schwartz. In spring 2007 Doninger posted a blog entry criticizing the administration and encouraging students to email or call the school regarding the scheduling of Jamfest (a school event). She also referred to the administration as "douchebags." When the blog was discovered some weeks later by the Superintendent's 36 year old son, the administration banned Doninger from running for a class officer position. Doninger won by write-in, but the write-in votes were not recognized. Doninger lost a hearing for injunctive relief when district court Judge Mark Kravitz ruled that there was not a substantial likelihood that Doninger would win her case against the school and thus declined to grant the injunction.
On May 29, 2008, a US Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling that the administration had acted within the bounds of their authority. The court made the ruling not so much because of the "douchebags" comment, but because her encouragement of students to contact the administration could cause a "foreseeable risk of substantial disruption to the work and discipline of the school." She had said on her blog that students could contact the Superintendent "to piss her off more." The court stressed that their decision was not an endorsement of schools regulating off-campus speech. Thomas Gerarde, representing the school district, was quick to assert that "any speech that is likely to come to the attention of administrators on campus, even though it’s off campus, will be subject to discipline if it’s disruptive."
Doninger's case gained national attention earlier after Doninger set up a website to appeal for donations to help with legal fees associated with the cause. The exact limits of students free speech rights in public schools has been a matter of controversy since 1969 when in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District the United States Supreme Court ruled that students have some free speech rights in schools. In later cases, such as Bethel School District v. Fraser, and Morse v. Frederick, colloquially known as the "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" case, the Supreme Court ruled that students in public schools while engaging in actions on campus or otherwise affiliated with the school do not enjoy the complete First Amendment protections that would normally apply to citizens in other circumstances.
Doninger and her mother have said that they will attempt to bring the case to jury trial. She graduated on June 20, 2008.
On April 25, 2011, the US Second Circuit Court of Appeals (based out of NYC) "ruled 3-0 that school administrators did not violate “clearly established” First Amendment precedent." [1]