The Five Freedoms Project

A high school student campaigning for class president passed out condoms to accompany his slogan, "The Safe Choice." But school rules provided that students must obtain prior approval for their campaign materials, and so school officials disqualified him from the election even though he had received a majority of the votes. The student claimed a violation of his First Amendment rights.

During a class discussion of an article about peace marches in protest of U.S. military involvement in Iraq, an elementary school teacher voiced the opinion that peace was preferable to war and said she personally supported the peace marchers. When the school district later failed to renew her contract, the teacher sued, alleging that the decision violated her First Amendment right to free speech.

Last month, middle school students in Aurora, Colorado were urged to wear red, white and blue to express their patriotism. One eleven-year-old decided to wear a homemade shirt with the message “Obama — a Terrorist’s Best Friend.”

Following a parent's complaint that the Harry Potter books promote witchcraft and disrespect toward authority, a local school board voted to remove the books from library shelves and require written parental permission before students could check them out.

In one Texas town, students were chosen by their classmates to give pre-game prayers at the high school’s football games over the public address system. Some students sued, arguing that the prayers constituted an endorsement of religion, and violated the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause.

In February 2006, an Indiana middle school principal learned that a student’s web page was critical of the school’s body-piercing policy. The posting was littered with vulgar language and harsh criticisms of school officials. The student contended that her message was protected political speech.