Schools

ACLU: Board of Education's Proposed Social Media Policy Violates First Amendment [POLL]

The American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut sent a letter to the Manchester Board of Education Friday asking its members to reject a proposed policy on social media use by school employees.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut says a to regulate school system employees' use of social media sites such as Facebook or Twitter restricts free speech and violates the First Amendment of U.S. Constitution. 

In its letter to Board of Education Chairman Chris Pattacini, the ACLU of Connecticut states that the regulations imposed by the proposed policy are "overly broad and impermissibly vague." 

“Free speech protections apply to social media as much as to any other form of communication,” wrote David McGuire, staff attorney for the ACLU of Connecticut “Teachers and other staff don’t lose their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gate, and they don’t lose them when they sign into Facebook. The policy as written would not be likely to withstand a legal challenge. If the board adopts it, the ACLU of Connecticut will monitor its application and encourage employees to contact us if they feel their rights have been violated.”

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Pattacini could not be immediately reached for comment Friday afternoon. 
A copy of the ACLU's letter and the Manchester Board of Education's proposed social media policy are attached as PDFs to this article. 


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