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Mary Beth Tinker: "Some clothing bans OK"
An Iowa school suspended a student for wearing a T-shirt depicting a gun. Now she's suingDes Moines Register
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Mary Beth Tinker: Some clothing bans OK
Mary Beth Tinker talked about free speech issues to students from various high schools in Iowa during a program making the 50th anniversary of the Tinker vs Des Moines free speech case in 2019 at the State Historical Society of Iowa building in Des Moines.
The student's lawsuit draws many parallels to Tinker vs. Des Moines, which began in 1965 when lead plaintiff Mary Beth Tinker, then a 13-year-old student at what is now Des Moines' Warren Harding Middle School, was suspended along with other students for wearing black armbands after a school board order not to.
Yet Tinker herself told the Des Moines Register she thinks the Johnston district is likely to win if the lawsuit reaches a judgment on the merits.
"Under (the Tinker decision), there is ample room for the censorship of messages that impinge on the rights of others, the often-overlooked second part of the Tinker test," Tinker said in an email, pointing to the Supreme Court's holding that "conduct by the student ... which for any reason ... involves substantial disorder or invasion of the rights of others is, of course, not immunized by the constitutional guarantee of freedom of speech."
Tinker said she believes wearing a shirt to school depicting a gun might constitute such an invasion of the rights of others, not just of other students, but of teachers, staff and visitors to the school.
But another expert, Adam Steinbaugh, an attorney for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, said he doubts a court would accept that argument.
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2023/02/08/pro-gun-rights-t-shirt-prompts-suspension-iowa-student-sues-schools-second-amendment-free-speech/69881634007/
5 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
The thread, started by kelly1mm, got locked for being based on an article that was over 12 hours old.
Fri Feb 10, 2023: Student's Second Amendment shirt prompts First Amendment lawsuit
Source: Washington Post
At the start of the school year, Johnston High School government teacher Thomas Griffin gave a lesson about free speech, explaining that students’ rights to it were “extremely limited” while on school property, according to a new lawsuit.
He said that he wouldn’t allow students to “wear any clothing that depicts guns, alcohol, or any other ‘inappropriate material,’” the document alleges.
But one student at the Johnston, Iowa, school felt her teacher was “wrong about the scope” of the First Amendment. The next time she had class, she walked in wearing a black T-shirt that read “What part of ‘shall not be infringed’ do you not understand?” alongside an image of a rifle.
Soon after, she was removed from class and later suspended from school, according to the lawsuit, which her mother filed against the Johnston Community School District and several employees, including Griffin. The lawsuit was filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa.
Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/student-s-second-amendment-shirt-prompts-first-amendment-lawsuit/ar-AA17k7AD
At the start of the school year, Johnston High School government teacher Thomas Griffin gave a lesson about free speech, explaining that students’ rights to it were “extremely limited” while on school property, according to a new lawsuit.
He said that he wouldn’t allow students to “wear any clothing that depicts guns, alcohol, or any other ‘inappropriate material,’” the document alleges.
But one student at the Johnston, Iowa, school felt her teacher was “wrong about the scope” of the First Amendment. The next time she had class, she walked in wearing a black T-shirt that read “What part of ‘shall not be infringed’ do you not understand?” alongside an image of a rifle.
Soon after, she was removed from class and later suspended from school, according to the lawsuit, which her mother filed against the Johnston Community School District and several employees, including Griffin. The lawsuit was filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa.
Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/student-s-second-amendment-shirt-prompts-first-amendment-lawsuit/ar-AA17k7AD
kelly1mm added the comment:
The school district is (rightly) going to lose this case. I always wonder why administrators don't contact their legal department on obviously charged issues before making decisions.
About Thomas Griffin:
Thomas Griffin
Educator
Johnston High School • Johnston, Iowa
Besides being named a James Madison Fellow, Thomas Griffin’s proudest moments as a teacher over the last thirteen years have come while “working with students who have been implementing projects designed for civic engagement in which they took action in an effort to address problems that were important to them.”
Thomas currently teaches U.S. History, World History, and AP World History at Johnston High School in Johnston, Iowa. He currently serves on the Bill of Rights Institute’s teacher advisory council and has attended several BRI seminars over the years and uses several resources in his classroom. One of his favorite lessons is “What is the Significance of the Free Exercise Clause?”
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About the Bill of Rights Institute (BRI):
Bill of Rights Institute
Key people:
President
· David Bobb
Board of Directors
· Mark Humphrey
· Ryan Stowers
· Todd Zywicki
Website: www.billofrightsinstitute.org
The Bill of Rights Institute (BRI) is a nonprofit educational organization based in Arlington, Virginia, that develops educational resources on American history and government, provides professional development opportunities to teachers, and runs student programs and scholarship contests. It has been described as promoting a conservative view of the United States Constitution.
History
BRI was founded in September 1999 by industrialist Charles Koch and the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation. BRI's first president, Victoria Hughes, was a teacher who had also held a number of executive roles in other non-profit organizations. Hughes led the organization for a decade until her departure, after which Tony Woodlief filled her position as president. David Bobb, a former Hillsdale College professor and head of its Allan P. Kirby, Jr. Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship, became BRI's president in December 2013.
{snip}
Key people:
President
· David Bobb
Board of Directors
· Mark Humphrey
· Ryan Stowers
· Todd Zywicki
Website: www.billofrightsinstitute.org
The Bill of Rights Institute (BRI) is a nonprofit educational organization based in Arlington, Virginia, that develops educational resources on American history and government, provides professional development opportunities to teachers, and runs student programs and scholarship contests. It has been described as promoting a conservative view of the United States Constitution.
History
BRI was founded in September 1999 by industrialist Charles Koch and the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation. BRI's first president, Victoria Hughes, was a teacher who had also held a number of executive roles in other non-profit organizations. Hughes led the organization for a decade until her departure, after which Tony Woodlief filled her position as president. David Bobb, a former Hillsdale College professor and head of its Allan P. Kirby, Jr. Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship, became BRI's president in December 2013.
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I hope it blows up in their faces. 
