A 17-year-old student who posted on his blog site that he was being bullied and threatened by the Plainfield School District in the US will face an expulsion hearing this week, a local attorney said.

Superintendent John Harper, who cannot comment on student cases, said the district will take action if it believes there is a safety issue. Meanwhile a spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union said school districts must be careful not to discipline students on matters that occur outside school. The student’s attorney believes Plainfield School District is overstepping its boundaries.

"The district is going to take away the student’s education for exercising his freedom of speech," said attorney Carl Buck. "I feel like they are trying to control his freedom of speech. ... He is saying, ’You can’t bully people and we have a right to object and you can’t throw people out of school for voicing their opinions.’"

Read the full story (Chicago Sun Times, via Slash and a Dot)