A federal judge in Minnesota has allowed a First Amendment and defamation lawsuit filed by a high school student who was suspended over a two-word tweet—“actually yes”—to move forward.

The suit was first filed in June 2014 by Reid Sagehorn, then a high school student at Rogers High School, in Rogers, Minnesota—he sued the Elk River School District, the principal of his former school, and two district officials for violating his constitutional rights. Sagehorn was the captain of the school's football and basketball teams, and by all accounts had a spotless disciplinary record—save for one parking ticket at the school.

Sagehorn, who declined to comment for this story, is now a student at North Dakota State University.

The January 2014 tweet, from Sagehorn’s Twitter account (since locked) was in response to a tweet from @Rogerconfession (since deleted), an account designed for “confessions” and rumors related to the school.

The confessions Twitter account asked:

“did @R_Sagehorn3 actually make out with [name of female teacher redacted in court filings]? prolly not.”

To which Sagehorn replied: “actually yes.”

Over a full week later, Sagehorn was summoned to the principal’s office, where he was admonished by the principal. The student maintained that the tweet was not meant to be taken seriously, and he expected others to recognize it as a joke. On February 5, just two days later, he was suspended for five days. That was later extended until April 2014. His parents eventually agreed to withdraw him from the school and send him to another.

In the ensuing weeks, Rogers Police Chief Jeff Beahen likened the comment to screaming “fire!” in a crowded theater.

Beahen told the Minneapolis Star Tribune, adding that the offense was likely a felony: “If you say something on a very public forum, there are consequences. This young, innocent teacher is the victim here.”

The local prosecuting attorney later confirmed that Sagehorn had committed no crime and the police chief apologized. Sagehorn, for his part, also said he had written an apology to the teacher in question: “I never meant to hurt anybody.”

Not lewd

In the June 2014 civil complaint, Sagehorn seeks attorneys fees, “punitive damages,” and an “expungement” of all disciplinary actions on his school record. The case has continued for over a year, with both sides asking for the judge to rule on their motion for judgment on the pleadings.

In the case, Elk River School District officials argued that Sagehorn’s tweet was in fact, obscene, as it could have been construed as referring to sexual intercourse, according to some dictionary definitions. Both sides agreed that the tweet was sent off-campus, well outside of school hours.

But US District Judge John Tunheim didn’t buy the district's claims in his Tuesday opinion:

In sum, the Court concludes that Sagehorn has adequately pleaded a First Amendment claim. The School Defendants have not demonstrated that Sagehorn’s speech caused a substantial disruption, was obscene, was lewd or vulgar, or was harassing. Therefore, the School Defendants have not defeated Sagehorn’s claim by showing that they were permitted to regulate his speech.

Neither Amy Mace, one of the district's attorneys, nor Robert Bennett, one of Sagehorn’s attorneys, immediately responded to Ars’ request for comment.