Final answer:
The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit made the correct ruling in this case by recognizing the student's First Amendment rights were violated. Their off-campus speech did not cause a substantial disruption to the school environment.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question at hand is whether the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit made the correct ruling in the case of A Cheerleader’s Vulgar Message Prompts a First Amendment Showdown by Adam Liptak. In this case, the Third Circuit ruled that the school violated the student's First Amendment rights by punishing her for off-campus speech. This ruling aligns with legal precedent set by the Supreme Court in the landmark case of Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District in 1969, which established that students' First Amendment rights apply in school unless their speech causes a substantial disruption. In this case, the court correctly recognized that the student's off-campus speech did not pose a direct disruption to the school environment, and therefore, the Third Circuit made the correct ruling.