Mary Beth Tinker: "Some clothing bans OK"

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. Student's Second Amendment shirt prompts First Amendment lawsuit

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

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.

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