This case is much more complicated than your post suggests. The complaint itself actually contains a number of causes of action on grounds apart from privacy: equal protection, freedom of expression, and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation (which is not federal law but California law). It also seems to me a bit misleading to say that a federal judge "disagreed" that the student had no reasonable expectation of privacy. Rather, the judge found that a privacy violation had been sufficiently alleged, and agreement or disagreement will come later whent he case is decided.

The complaint can be read at the ACLU website: http://www.aclu-sc.org/attach/n/ngoun_v_wolf.pdf

The rules of Ms. Nguon's school are on the web. I couldn't find any explicit prohibition against PDAs, so it certainly seems like Ms. Nguon was victimized unfairly. But please, check the rules and see if I'm wrong. (Click through to my blog for the link, or visit first Google hit for "Santiago High")

It seems like a lot of posters here are unconcerned with the potential consequences of a student getting outed to his or her parents, so I want to share a story. A good friend of mine was pretty out at high school, but because of the religious beliefs of his parents was not out at home. One day he got beat up near school by some of our classmates because he was gay. That was bad enough -- but it was made even worse when our principal called his parents, and in telling them about the incident outed my friend. The next day he was homeless.

A little bit of common sense would help in both cases. Talk to the student first -- find out what the situation is, what the consequences would be.

To me, these cases are not analagous to drug use at school -- they are analagous to underage abortions. I doubt most people here would question a girl's right to hide her abortion from her family, because most girls who DO hide that information have good reason to. Similarly, gay students can evaluate for themselves where it is safe to come out and where it is not. Taking away that right to privacy is not just invasive, it is potentially very dangerous.

Limiting students' rights to keep their sexual identity private could also have a very hurtful silencing effect: after my friend was kicked out of his house for being gay, another friend of mine went back into the closet to avoid a similar fate, and stopped hanging out with his old friends in fear of being gay by association. How many other students never came out in the first place because of this? How many students missed out on the chance at joining a supportive community at school because they feared it would mean being outed to their unsupportive parents?

The emphasis on Ms. Nguon's privacy seems odd to me, given the much more basic discrimination she seems to have suffered. One article stated that the principal tried to separate her and her girlfriend. This is totally inappropriate, something I'd wager the principal wouldn't try with a pair of straight kids.

A final note: I wouldn't be surprised if this school was a lot harder on gay PDAs than straight ones, but then I didn't attend it. Any Garden Grove alums in the audience?

Schroeder, looks like I spelled your name wrong in my reply, I'm sorry.

Perhaps you didn't read the whole article, but the student was suspended for PDA at school, which is against the school's rules. (Drug use is illegal--as you pointed out--so it is not a great analogy, I just picked it as something else that's presumably against school rules.) As other posters have pointed out, the lawsuit should be about the unequal and discriminatory enforcement of the PDA rule, since it has not been enforced with straight couples. Instead, the lawsuit is about the fact that the principal told the parents the reason their daughter was being suspended (PDA with fellow student X). (This is all based on what I've read in the media.) In my opinion, a lawsuit about the sharing of information with parents, because they might react badly, seems like it sets a bad precedent. If anything, there needs to be more communication between schools and parents, not less.

Also, you seemed to imply that information that parents are entitled to is limited to academics (ie grades). I strongly disagree. Did you notice if my child ate her lunch today? What is my child's general demeanor in the classroom? Out of the classroom? Does my child have any friends? Who are they? Anything about the group dynamic that I should know about? What was my child wearing today? (some change after they get to school) None of these questions are directly related to academics, but could be more broadly related to the child's education, and in any case as a parent I should be entitled to ask.

I say that only knowing the details that I have read in the media. But from what I understand the principal is guilty of a) being a jerk and worse b) harrassing a student based on her sexuality. The first is, unfortunately, not punishable by law and the second, I assume, is not either (but should be) since the ACLU has chosen this backdoor method to fight back against the school district and the princpal.

I am a raving gay rights proponent and it bodes ill for this case when I find myself agreeing with the conservative groups that are trucked out for tit for tat comment. I agree with Cynthia (I think that's who wrote the letter) that this is setting an unfortunate precedent. If a student is guilty of PDA against school regulations what is the principal supposed to do? If that case wins then the principal can't call home about misbehaving straight students either presumably, and it sets up all kinds of potential lawsuits against schools and teachers and othe principals who have no idea what they're getting themselves into. My partner is a school teacher, and I have watched how careful she is in all her dealings with students because of fear of legal reprisal from parents. Why can't this principal get canned for harrassing a student, for the real crime, instead of for a made up crime?

The gay rights movement is on shaky ground right now and it doesn't need cases like this that are going to get a lot more attention than other, more deserving ones.