Burlington school wins free speech case

Burlington (AP) - A federal judge has ruled that Burlington school officials acted within their rights to discipline a student for an Internet posting she wrote off school grounds.

According to The Hartford Courant, U.S. District Court Judge Mark Kravitz rejected Avery Doninger's claim that administrators at Lewis B. Mills High School violated her rights of free speech and equal protection.

She had also alleged they inflicted emotional distress when they barred her from serving as class secretary because of the 2007 posting, which criticized the administrators for canceling a popular school activity.

Doninger's attorney says they will appeal Kravitz's ruling and take the issue to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.

Doninger graduated in 2008 and now works for AmeriCorps in an impoverished school in Denver.