schoolgirl who was initially suspended for having indecent images of herself on her mobile phone, has won $33,000 (£21,240) after suing her school in a landmark case for civil liberties.
The 17-year-old, who was named as 'N.N.' in order to protect her privacy, was made to serve a three-day suspension from her high school in north-east Pennsylvania in January last year after a teacher confiscated her phone which she was using before a lesson was starting.
The school principal then scrolled through N.N.'s mobile phone text messages, e-mails and photographs and found explicit naked images of the student in the gallery and dished out the suspension.
The images, which had been taken the previous evening - out of school - had not been sent to anyone - and were only meant for the eyes of N.N. and her boyfriend.
Last week's verdict is being seen as a victory for young people who feel as though their rights for 'sexting' are violated.
The lawsuit charged the school's officials in Tunkhannock Area School District with violating N.N.’s First and Fourth Amendment rights by searching her phone after confiscating it.
A teacher had seized the device after the student was seen using it before classes started, but apparently after school rules allowed students to make calls.
The principal then viewed photos that the girl had taken the night before of herself naked.
N.N. took these photos to share with her long-time boyfriend, who had graduated, and did not send (or 'sext') the photos to anyone else.
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