Taylor Bell v. Itawamba County School Board

GREGG COSTA, Circuit Judge, joined by OWEN and HIGGINSON, Circuit Judges,

concurring:

This case involves two serious problems that arise all too frequently in today’s classrooms: violence and sexual harassment. Judge, Dennis’s dissent points out that the harassment of female students is a matter of vital public concern that Bell’s song sought to expose. The problem for Bell is that his song — with its graphic discussion of violence against the coaches— goes well beyond blowing the whistle on the alleged harassment.

Judge Dennis’s dissent contends that these whistleblowing aspects of the song…