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ACLU-NJ Announces Settlement in 8th Grade Webmaster Case

For Immediate Release
November 6, 2005

Newark, NJ - The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey announced today the finalization of a settlement between Oceanport School District and Ryan Dwyer, the then 8th-grade student who was improperly punished by district administrators for creating a website forum that included statements critical of his school. In the settlement, the Oceanport School District apologized, acknowledged that Ryan did nothing wrong and should not have been punished, and agreed to pay $117,500 in damages and attorneys fees. The settlement followed a decision on April 3, 2005, in which the U.S. District Court found Oceanport school officials liable for violating Ryan's free speech rights.

"While my parents and I are happy the case is resolved, most importantly, I'm hopeful this will help ensure that free speech rights of students aren't trampled on again in the future," said Ryan Dwyer, now an 11th grader. "But it is a shame that in our free country, school administrators actually thought that they could punish students like me just because they didn't like what we had to say or that we had a place to say it."

Ryan Dwyer created a website in April 2003 that contained criticisms of his school, Maple Place. He created and maintained the website on his own time from his home computer. The site contained a "Guest Book" in which visitors to the site could register comments about the site or about the school. Ryan voluntarily included a statement on the Guest Book web page that no posting should contain profanity or threats. Nevertheless, after school officials discovered the site, they suspended Ryan for a week, banned him from playing on the baseball team for a month, and did not allow him to go on the eighth-grade class trip. They also would not permit him to take Honors English and Honors Algebra placement tests that were being administered in another school district during his suspension, and did not announce his award for a high SAT score when similar awards were announced.

The ACLU-NJ asserted that the school district's actions violated the Ryan's right to free speech and expression as guaranteed by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and by Article I, Paragraphs 1 and 6 of the New Jersey Constitution.

"The school district has never - to this day - explained to us what rule or policy our son violated," said Kevin Dwyer, Ryan's father. The school officials did identify particular statements written in the Guest Book by other students that they found offensive. However, despite the fact that Ryan himself made no offensive or threatening remarks and repeatedly warned others from so doing, he received far greater punishment than the students who wrote the offensive remarks.

"Our constitution and laws protect webmasters from being held liable for statements made on their sites over which they maintain no editorial control," explained ACLU-NJ cooperating attorney Grayson Barber, who litigated the case. "Our schools should encourage debate and political engagement rather than punishing students who provide a forum for free expression," she added.

In its decision of April 3, 2005, the court noted that "the comments made by other individuals in the Guestbook are not attributable to Ryan as creator of the website" and that the school district presented no evidence that Ryan's own comments were either threatening or created a substantial disruption of the operation of the school.

Nationwide, the ACLU has successfully represented numerous students who received punishment for materials they posted on the web on their own time, from home.

The lawsuit was captioned Dwyer v. Oceanport School District, et al.