Court Rules California School Had Right To Ban US Flag T-Shirts
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals just ruled that a California school had the right to prohibit students from wearing American flag t-shirts and infringe upon the First Amendment rights of students. A small group of students opted to wear patriotic apparel on May 5 – Cindo de Mayo.
Live Oak High School officials argued they banned the American flag t-shirts to prevent racial tension and keep students safe. Students at the school were permitted to wear Mexican flag shirts to school on the same day.
The 9th Circuit Court free speech American flag shirts decision read:
“The controversy and tension remained but the school’s actions presciently avoided an altercation.”
The First Amendment case dates back to 2010 when a Live Oaks High School principal told students to either turn their American flag shirts inside out or to change their attire. The school claimed gang problems, and both verbal and physical altercations plagued the observation of the Mexican holiday during the prior school year. Live Oak High School is located in the San Jose area.
When some students allegedly told officials at the California high school that trouble could occur if their peers went ahead with plans to wear American flag shirts to class on Cinco de Mayo, the school told the patriotic teens to either turn their shirts inside out or go on home. They went home.
Even though the American flag-wearing students have since graduated. A lower federal court threw out the free speech lawsuit in December 2011. Chief Judge James Ware, who has since retired, said, “Our Constitution grants public school children only limited First Amendment rights when they enter the schoolhouse gates.”
University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) law professor Eugene Volokh told the Associated Press that the lower court’s ruling in the free speech lawsuit amounted to a “heckler’s veto.” According to the First Amendment expert, school officials can and have overreacted to a perceived problem that may or may not be so disruptive that censorship is warranted. Volokh said, “The fact of the matter is that these Americans were punished for wearing the American flag at an American school.”
Critics of the school’s decision are asking: Would it have made the same decision if Hispanic students wore Mexican flag T-shirts on the anniversary of the Alamo or if Muslim students wore a Middle Eastern-themed T-shirt on 9/11? The attorneys for the California students who wore American flag T-shirts to school on Cinco de Mayo work for non-profit legal centers focused on politically conservative causes, according to Fox News.
Attorney William J. Becker Jr., of the Freedom X group feels the lower court judge was “wrapped up in political correctness and an immediate threat of a disruption or violence should have been present in order to ban the American flag t-shirts. Becker also said, “Nobody is alleging that any disruption was caused by the shirts. The students in the case were deprived of their Constitutional rights simply by displaying their patriotism. American Freedom Law Center and Thomas More Law Center attorneys also represent the group of students sent home from school for wearing American flag T-shirts.
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