Remember the "Nazi" Post From A Few Weeks Ago?

Students in a small town not too far away were punished by their school for (entirely inappropriate) pictures they posted on social media off campus and not during school hours.  Here's my post from a few weeks ago on the subject.

Today's major Sacramento newspaper carried a stream-of-consciousness piece on the topic, and included comments by a local law professor.  Let's see what was said:

Had the students posed with Nazi symbols on campus, their subsequent punishment probably would have been justified under Supreme Court precedents. But because the photo was taken and posted off campus, the school’s power to discipline the students is debatable.

“Assuming there’s not an argument the school can make that this off-campus activity somehow had a disruptive effect on school operations, I think ordinary First Amendment rules would apply,” said David Snyder, executive director of the First Amendment Coalition. “Nazi iconography — as abhorrent as it is — is generally protected under the First Amendment.” UC Davis Law Professor Aaron Tang disagreed, however, saying Wheatland Union acted correctly. “The school has an obligation to protect every student’s ability to safely come to school and learn, and it can punish students who support legacies of white supremacy and the slaughtering of millions of people,” Tang said…

But the court also ruled that schools can discipline off-campus student speech if it involves threats, bullying or harassment. From Tang’s perspective, this is the caveat that gives Wheatland Union the right to discipline its students. “Schools can punish off-campus speech when that speech makes (other) students feel uncomfortable coming to school,” Tang said. “Nazi symbols aren’t targeted at individual students, but they do target students.

Tang's so-called argument comes off as weak sauce to me.  It boils down to "speech I don't like is bad", and that's no way to run a First Amendment.  We all encounter symbols, speech, and actions that we don't like, and we encounter them every single day.  "I don't feel safe!" (said in whiny voice) has already worn out its welcome.  Put on your big boy or big girl undies and act like a human with some agency, not like some mousy little wuss.  

And can schools really "punish students who support legacies of white supremacy and the slaughtering of millions of people"?  We can really punish people merely for having abhorrent thoughts and beliefs?  If that's true, let's start punishing the communists, the socialists, and the various other lefties.  But I'm sure that's not what Comrade Tang meant, is it?

Judging only by what was quoted in this article, Tang is clearly an idiot.

I have yet to hear what the punishment for the students was.  Was it light enough that the school could say they did "something", but not so much that parents decided it wasn't worth challenging in court?  Or is something else going on?  I'd really like to know.