North Mississippi Student Back in Court over Rap Song

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — It’s back to court for a Mississippi high school student who argues he was exercising his right of free speech when he posted a rap song online that criticized two coaches he accused of misconduct toward female students.

A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last December overturned Taylor Bell’s suspension. On Monday, the full appeals court decided to review the case with oral arguments on May 11.

Itawamba County school officials argued Bell caused a disruption at school by posting the video in early 2011. Bell was suspended for seven days and assigned to an alternative school for more than a month.

The 5th Circuit panel threw out the suspension because Bell wrote the song off-campus using a home computer and posted it online during non-school hours.