Case: 12-60264 Document: 00513162565 Page: 10 Date Filed: 08/20/2015 No. 12-60264 addition, Bell, his mother, school-board attorney Floyd, and Franklin (offered as an expert in rap music) were called as witnesses by Bell; superintendent McNeece and Coaches R. and W., by the school district. Bell testified about his making and disseminating the recording; the meaning behind certain statements in it; and the resulting events leading up to, and after, school officials disciplined him. Bell’s mother testified about her recollection of the events leading up to the disciplinary-committee and schoolboard hearings. She testified the school principal never stated Bell was dangerous or threatening, and that Bell was told to stay in the school before suspending him. Floyd testified about her recollection of the events before, during, and after the disciplinary-committee and school-board hearings. During her testimony, the court noted Bell’s contention that the rap recording addressed a matter of public concern. Floyd discussed the school-district policy Bell violated: he threatened, harassed, and intimidated school employees; similarly, she testified that, at their respective hearings, the disciplinary committee and the school board discussed the possibility of disruption. Over the school-district’s objection, Franklin was permitted to testify as an expert. Characterizing the statements in Bell’s recording as nothing more than “colorful language” used to entice listeners and reflective of the norm among young rap artists, Franklin testified that it gave him no cause for concern. On cross-examination, however, he testified: if an individual’s name is used in a rap recording and precedes the words “[p]ut a pistol in your mouth and cap him”, “it would definitely be cause for a conversation with the young man, absolutely”. The superintendent testified: she had attended the school-board meeting; there was a foreseeable danger of substantial disruption at the school 10