By the time criminal defense attorney Jamie Hubbard stepped into a Denver courtroom in December 2023, hoping to sway a jury’s opinion in favor of her young client, the traditional bell no longer marked the end of school oversight for many American children.
Students’ social lives, and their mistakes, continue to play out across evenings and weekends via the many social media platforms that now give school administrators a lens into their pupils’ lives — and the ability to police their speech and behavior off campus.
Hubbard’s client, who The Denver Post is not identifying because he was a minor at the time, was no exception. As a 16-year-old, he had posted an antisemitic comment on Snapchat while out with friends one night in 2019.
Despite the app’s disappearing messages, the post still made its way to Cherry Creek Schools administrators within days and they expelled the teen…