Sue Hartigan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: WESTLAKE, Ohio, March 29 (UPI) _ High school junior Sean O'Brien, suspended because he criticized a teacher on an Internet web site, has returned to his classes under a court ruling that school officials can't limit what he says after school hours. O'Brien said he was building a web page last month when it occurred to him that it was a good place to air his grievances against his band teacher, Raymond Walczuk. But when school officials saw the page _ ``raymondsucks.org'' _ they suspended O'Brien for 10 days and threatened to expel him. Senior U.S. District Judge John Manos in Cleveland Wednesday ordered school officials to reinstate the teenager and prohibited them from restricting what O'Brien says on the Internet from his home computer. An April 3 hearing is scheduled on O'Brien's claim the school district violated his First Amendment rights. The American Civil Liberties Union said the case could become the first nationally to explore how much, if any, control a school can exert over what students say on the Internet from their home computers. Christine Link, executive director of the ACLU's Ohio chapter, told UPI: ``The issues involved (in the case) are old traditional free speech issues. The Supreme Court has said you don't abandon your rights at the school house door. But in this case, the school authorities went farther and went into his home to suppress the kid's free speech rights.'' School officials contend they have a right to discipline O'Brien under a rule that says students may not ``demonstrate physical, written or verbal disrespect/threat'' against school employees. -- Two rules in life: 1. Don't tell people everything you know. 2. Subscribe/Unsubscribe, email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the body of the message enter: subscribe/unsubscribe law-issues
