Sequatchie County High School Principal Tommy Layne said that he initially considered it a joke, but that authorities then found the ninth-graders’ online MySpace pages and postings that included the word “kill.”

[…]

There was no evidence that the girls had weapons or that an attack had been imminent, Huth said.

The girls, ages 14 and 15, were charged with conspiracy to commit criminal homicide late Wednesday and taken to a juvenile facility. A juvenile court detention hearing was set Friday in Dunlap, about 40 miles northwest of Chattanooga. —Girls charged with conspiring to kill classmates, Oprah (CNN)

Yet another example of a case in which the right to the freedom of speech does not include a right to escape the consequences of the choice to exercise free speech.

Of course the mainstream media will jump on this story, since it involves the internet. I certainly hope this doesn’t lead to a permanent mark on the records of the girls involved, but I do think it was perfectly appropriate for the school to take some sort of action.