Violation of Freedom of Symbolic Speech

On May 5, aka Cinco De Mayo, five students that attend Live Oak High School in Morgan Hill wore shirts that brandished the American flag. During lunch they were told by a principle that they had to take off the shirts or turn them inside out because they would cause an “incendiary” incident with the Mexican American students. The five students refused to remove or hide their clothing, and left school to avoid being suspended by the administrators. The incident became public and the school district said that the way Live Oak High School administrators handled the situation extremely poorly, and the district re instated the students, who returned to school last Thursday.

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The significance is that this act by the school violated the student’s right to freedom of symbolic speech as outlined in the first amendment. The Supreme Court case that spread the protection of the first amendment to the states was Tinker Vs. Des Moines.

I feel like this is absolutly rediculous. We are in The United States of America so therefore everyones freedom of speech is protected by the 1st amendment. Not to mention that the kids were wearing shirts featuring the American flag and nothing else.

Tensions High at California High School Following Flag Flap

On May 5, 2010, Cinco de Mayo, five students at a California School showed up to classes wearing controversial American flag t-shirts. Over 200 Hispanic students skipped class and marched near the office of the School Board chanting "we want respect," so the boys were pulled out of school by two officers after the alert of gang-violence spread. The five boys were sitting outside the school at a lunch table when they were told to remove the American flag bandannas (which they did), but once they were told to turn their t-shirts inside-out, they refused. The boys felt that the principal was "overstepping his bounds." They understood his concern, but there was no indication that any violence was going to happen at all. The school was in fact protecting its campus, but it was also introducing an idea that students are not allowed to freely express themselves by wearing patriotic clothing. Therefore, the actions of the school violated the First Amendment rights of the students. Since there was no actual violence, the school board did not have significant reason to send the boys home, and since Cinco de Mayo, the case is under review and that the boys and their parents are likely to have a winning case on their hands if they take the matter to court. In the article, a principal at a school in California asked boys at a school to turn their American flag shirts inside-out. This is related to the topic of First Amendment rights, in this case speech. The wearing of the American flag t-shirt is an example of symbolic speech, an expression protected under Texas v. Johnson when it was decided that the burning of the American flag and other forms of symbolic were protected. Also, in Tinker v. Des Moines, it was declared that students do not shed their rights when they enter through the school gates. Both of these were violated when the Vice Principal and other school administrators were asking the boys to remove and/or turn their shirts inside out. However, according to Schenck v. United States, the Supreme Court ruled that speech could be restricted by the government if it presented a clear and present danger, as was argued by the school administrators at this school in California, believing that it would incite the Hispanic community at the school that was participating in large Cinco de Mayo celebrations and protesting the new Arizona law.

Article Credit May 7, 2010

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