# Facebook password has 1st and 4th AM protection **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 18, 2012, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-password-has-1st-and-4th-am-protection/635082 "2012-09-18T17:40:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![lawbuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@lawbuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawbuff)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-password-has-1st-and-4th-am-protection/635082/1 "2012-09-18T17:40:32Z")
[Minnesota decision](http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2012/09/18/court-rules-students-facebook-messages-have-first-fourth-amendment-protections/?mod=WSJBlog&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wsj%2Flaw%2Ffeed+%28WSJ.com%3A+Law+Blog%29) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-password-has-1st-and-4th-am-protection/635082/2 "2012-09-18T19:29:43Z")
A little more info, please. That site is blocked from work. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-password-has-1st-and-4th-am-protection/635082/3 "2012-09-18T19:40:33Z")
> [@](#): > > The case concerns a 12-year-old student in Minnesota who wrote a comment on her Facebook wall while in her home, expressing her dislike of a school employee, which was followed by another posting of a similar nature. The student was questioned by school officials about what she wrote, and was disciplined for each incident. The school officials compelled her to give them access to her Facebook and personal email accounts, which they searched. The court ruled that the school had absolutely no business to intrude on her privacy and has no right to regulate speech outside of school grounds. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-password-has-1st-and-4th-am-protection/635082/4 "2012-09-18T19:42:40Z")
It’s R.S. v Minnewaska Area School District. A PDF of the decision is [here](http://docs.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/minnesota/mndce/0:2012cv00588/124914/28/0.pdf?ts=1347020162). ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-password-has-1st-and-4th-am-protection/635082/5 "2012-09-18T21:18:28Z")
This goes too far. Schools can act in loco parentis. If I tell my kid that he can’t call his mom a “cunt lapper” on Facebook at any time, I’m allowed to do that. School discipline breaks down if the faculty can only prohibit conduct for 6 hours a day, but the rest of the time the students can make a mockery of the teachers and administration. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-password-has-1st-and-4th-am-protection/635082/6 "2012-09-18T21:23:24Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > School discipline breaks down if the faculty can only prohibit conduct for 6 hours a day, but the rest of the time the students can make a mockery of the teachers and administration. Schools should have the power to police students when they aren’t in school? Are you joking? What limits do you see on your proposal? If Mason calls Logan a douchebag at the skate park on Saturday, can Mason get suspended? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-password-has-1st-and-4th-am-protection/635082/7 "2012-09-18T21:25:14Z")
Cool. I’ll have to forward the decision to my superintendent. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-password-has-1st-and-4th-am-protection/635082/8 "2012-09-18T21:26:10Z")
Facebook opened up to everyone my senior year of high school but before that myspace was the big one. Kids wrote all sorts of crap on myspace about their teachers and school discipline did not break down. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-password-has-1st-and-4th-am-protection/635082/9 "2012-09-18T21:46:46Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > This goes too far. Schools can act in loco parentis. If I tell my kid that he can’t call his mom a “cunt lapper” on Facebook at any time, I’m allowed to do that. > > School discipline breaks down if the faculty can only prohibit conduct for 6 hours a day, but the rest of the time the students can make a mockery of the teachers and administration. hahahahahahaha hahahahahahahaha Oh, God. You’re such a kidder. This guy, man, this guy right here. hahahahahahaha Yeah, no, fuck that. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-password-has-1st-and-4th-am-protection/635082/10 "2012-09-18T21:53:37Z")
Too late to edit: To expand on that (even though “Yeah, no, fuck that” adequately expresses my views on the matter), if you follow that train of logic you arrive at the view that schools should be able to dictate how a parent raises their child. Let’s say that a school insists I don’t let my kid eat apple sauce at home and I say “uh, fuck that and fuck you too,” should the school’s “parental authority” take precedence over my own? Because unless this kid’s parents gave the school consent to do what they did (I mean really, they forced her to give them access to her Facebook account?) that’s essentially the case. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-password-has-1st-and-4th-am-protection/635082/11 "2012-09-18T21:58:55Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Schools should have the power to police students when they aren’t in school? Are you joking? What limits do you see on your proposal? If Mason calls Logan a douchebag at the skate park on Saturday, can Mason get suspended? Only if such conduct continues over into school hours. Comments about the teachers and administration, by implication, continue into school hours. If I say that my teacher, Mr. Smith, is a douchebag on Saturday, then my opinion and disrespect for him didn’t change on Monday. Same way with the other comment about nutritional dinners at home. It doesn’t carry over into the school environment. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-password-has-1st-and-4th-am-protection/635082/12 "2012-09-18T22:03:23Z")
You can’t possibly believe that. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-password-has-1st-and-4th-am-protection/635082/13 "2012-09-18T22:12:31Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > You can’t possibly believe that. I do. Minors are restricted of their liberties in all sorts of ways. Did your parents ever send you to your room? Were they cited for false imprisonment? Let’s not even talk about paddling.. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-password-has-1st-and-4th-am-protection/635082/14 "2012-09-18T22:19:44Z")
Based on what you’ve said it’s clear your belief is that the school’s parental authority takes precedence over the authority of the actual parents, even outside of school ours. Thankfully most people don’t think like you do. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-password-has-1st-and-4th-am-protection/635082/15 "2012-09-18T22:21:37Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > Based on what you’ve said it’s clear your belief is that the school’s parental authority takes precedence over the authority of the actual parents, even outside of school ours. Thankfully most people don’t think like you do. Okay. To each his own. IMHO, the school has a right to regulate things, in good faith, that affect the school environment. Calling the teacher names affects that environment. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-password-has-1st-and-4th-am-protection/635082/16 "2012-09-19T00:00:43Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > I do. Minors are restricted of their liberties in all sorts of ways. Did your parents ever send you to your room? Were they cited for false imprisonment? Let’s not even talk about paddling.. Irrelevant. I’m not taking issue with the idea of minors being punished. I’m taking issue with your idea that it’s the school’s job to police and patrol students off school grounds and outside of school hours. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-password-has-1st-and-4th-am-protection/635082/17 "2012-09-19T00:17:49Z")
On a less-serious note, I was highly amused that the decision added a [sic] to the line "‘I want to know who the f%$# told on me.’” How do you determine whether an intentionally edited expletive contains a typographical error? ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-password-has-1st-and-4th-am-protection/635082/18 "2012-09-19T00:32:47Z")
Kids (and adults) talk bad about school folks all the time - it being posted on facebook (or not) will not change that part of being ‘in school’ - so, by jtgain’s logic, if the child calls the teachers names at the mall, or on the phone - well, or anywhere - since the attitude wont change, the school should be monitoring and punishing students everywhere all the time. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-password-has-1st-and-4th-am-protection/635082/19 "2012-09-19T00:42:30Z")
“It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate” kinda assumes that outside said gate, people have free speech. Including the right to call their teachers dickheads. **jtgain** is very, very wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-password-has-1st-and-4th-am-protection/635082/20 "2012-09-19T00:49:30Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > School discipline breaks down if the faculty can only prohibit conduct for 6 hours a day, but the rest of the time the students can make a mockery of the teachers and administration. Even ignoring the violation of their rights and privacy, digging into their private lives away from school is guaranteed to make the targeted kids _extremely_ angry, rebellious and contemptuous of the school whatever they felt like before. Quite likely with a hefty, justified sense of opposing injustice, and parental backing thrown in. Do you think it’ll be good for school discipline when parents tell their kids “You know, you’re right Jennifer; they really are a bunch of oppressive control freaks”? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-password-has-1st-and-4th-am-protection/635082.md?page=2)