Chris Johnson, who recently graduated from a high school and is now on the track and field team at an university has filed suit against his former high school, the athletic director, the school's principal, and his former baseball coach, alleging they violated his First Amendment right of free speech and his Fourteenth Amendment right to due process, resulting in a "loss of liberty" when he was cut from the team.

Johnson alleges the Coach punished him by not allowing him to play in multiple games over the course of the season when he had to choose to miss one baseball game for a track meet. The lawsuit also claims Johnson's First Amendment rights were violated when he was punished for sending tweets critical of his team and coaching staff. After a game, Johnson posted a tweet that stated, "Am I that bad that I can't even play on a losing team?" Other tweets included: "At this point, the Athletic Trainer has been on the field more than I have", and "At least coaches from the other team would take me to play baseball". Johnson was subsequently released from the baseball team.

In counts II and III of the lawsuit, Johnson alleges his Fourteenth Amendment right to due process was violated because Marymount's student handbook has no policy prohibiting private social media communications. The lawsuit says Johnson "was never given notice of the charges against him, never given the opportunity to present a defense."

Based on your knowledge of cases we discussed in the lecture (i.e. Lowery v. Euverard), discuss your thoughts on this case. Provide rationale based on cases presented in lecture, and whether you believe Johnson will be awarded the $75,000 in damages he seeks, as well as requiring the school to publish a social media policy he says is "consistent with the Constitution of the United States".

L owery v. Fuverard 497 F.3d 584 (6% Cir. 2007) Facts: * High school player wrote \"I hate Coach Euvard [sic] and I don't want to play for him.\" 18 players signed the petition to fire coach. * He and others who did not apologize were removed from team. * Court seeks \"proper balance between a student athlete's First Amendment rights and a coach's need to maintain order & discipline.\" * \"The contour of First Amendment protection given to speech depends upon the context.\" * \"It was reasonable ... to forecast the petition would undermine Euverard's authority ... Tinker does not require teachers to surrender control of the classroom to students, and it does not require coaches to surrender control of the team to players.\