LEGAL ISSUES
D.C.’s largest high school to show alternate Palestinian film after suit

The settlement between ACLU-D.C. and Jackson-Reed High School averts a legal showdown over the Arab Student Union’s outreach efforts following the Israel-Gaza war.

By Spencer S. Hsu
Updated May 8, 2024 at 6:51 p.m. EDT | Published May 8, 2024 at 4:47 p.m. EDT


Jackson-Reed High School in 2023. (Al Drago for The Washington Post)

The D.C. Public Schools system and Jackson-Reed High School on Wednesday agreed to end their ban on an Arab student group’s attempt to screen a pro-Palestinian documentary and host events about Palestinian culture after the American Civil Liberties Union of D.C. brought a First Amendment lawsuit.

The interim settlement averted a showdown in federal court Friday over the ACLU-D.C.’s allegation that the Arab Student Union was being treated differently from other groups at the 1,983-student institution serving the city’s Northwest Washington neighborhoods. In a suit filed April 24, students at the largest public high school in D.C. alleged administrators asked the group to censor materials and go through “procedural roadblocks” to host events.

“Public school administrators cannot trample students’ First Amendment rights simply because they do not like what the students have to say. This victory reaffirms that students’ rights do not vanish at the school’s door,” said Arthur Spitzer, senior counsel at ACLU-D.C.

The 19-member student group alleged that since December, school leaders had barred it from hosting an on-campus screening of “The Occupation of the American Mind,” a documentary that critiques Western media’s portrayal of the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict but that has also been accused of antisemitism.

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By Spencer Hsu
Spencer S. Hsu is an investigative reporter, two-time Pulitzer finalist and national Emmy Award nominee. Hsu has covered homeland security, immigration, Virginia politics and Congress. Twitter https://twitter.com/hsu_spencer