What limits, if any, may school officials place on student expression that occurs off school grounds?
Traditionally, courts have been reluctant to permit restrictions on student speech that occurs entirely off school grounds, finding that the connection to the school is “too attenuated.” Yet the courts are also quick to point out that if the student speech has a closer connection to the school, such as the distribution on school grounds of newspapers that were created off campus, school officials may be able to provide the connection needed to bring this situation under their control. In addition, if there is a connection between off-campus speech and on-campus disruption, the off-campus speech and behavior may be subject to reasonable regulation. For example, a student’s off-campus drug dealing provides a sufficient basis for an expulsion because of the likelihood that the student will also sell drugs on campus. Similarly, off-campus threats to do harm on campus may also give rise to disciplinary measures. With the advent of the Internet, the traditional view of off-campus speech has
