Fed. Court: Fear Trumps First Amendment

Fed. Court: Fear Trumps First Amendment

In California, students are apparently being taught that they must eliminate or hide signs of their patriotism in fear of reprisals in their own schools!

On Thursday the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals determined that a northern California school did not violate the First Amendment rights of students when it insisted they remove clothing displaying the U.S. flag during the Mexican Cinco de Mayo holiday.  Students were asked to turn t-shirts inside out or remove garments that bore the American flag due to fears of ‘racial violence’.

“School officials anticipated violence or substantial disruption of or material interference with school activities, and their response was tailored to the circumstances,” Judge M. Margaret McKeown wrote in the opinion for the three-judge Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel. “As a consequence, we conclude that school officials did not violate the students’ rights to freedom of expression, due process, or equal protection.”

UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh suggested that the court may have correctly applied the law, but unfortunately sanctioned a “heckler’s veto” by ruling against the students.

“The school taught its students a simple lesson: If you dislike speech and want it suppressed, then you can get what you want by threatening violence against the speakers,” Volokh wrote in his blog,the Volokh Conspiracy. “The school will cave in, the speakers will be shut up, and you and your ideology will win.”

Cinco de Maya flags

Source: Washington Examiner

Photo: Infowars



Share

210 Comments

Leave a Reply

Pin It on Pinterest