You Be The Judge
Test your knowledge of the Five Freedoms and see how you match up to the courts...and fellow citizens.
Student Political Expression
On April 28 — the Day of Truth — an Illinois high school sophomore wore a "Be Happy, Not Gay" t-shirt to school. School officials said he could wear a T-shirt that read "Be Happy, Be Straight," but not his shirt's current message, which was too derogatory and would likely cause a disruption at the school.
May a school prevent a student from wearing a “Be Happy, Not Gay” t-shirt?
Vote Now!
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33%A. NOSchools can and must protect students from the invasion of their legal rights by other students. But no one has a legal right to prevent others from criticizing their beliefs or way of life.
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36%B. YESSchools must encourage respectful behavior and guarantee the safety of students. The need for a safe school outweighs the right to free expression.
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31%C. YESStudents in public schools do not have the right to wear t-shirts expressing political ideas. Such messages threaten the capacity of school officials to maintain a safe and orderly learning environment.
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Correct!
In Nuxoll v. Indian Prairie School District (2007), the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that although schools must protect students from the invasion of their legal rights by other students, “people do not have a legal right to prevent criticism of their beliefs or, for that matter, their way of life.” -
Incorrect
Although schools do have a responsibility to encourage respectful behavior and guarantee the safety of all students, such interests must be weighed against the First Amendment rights of students. -
Incorrect
Since 1969, the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized that students in public schools do have First Amendment rights – within certain limits.
In this case, the 7th Circuit decided that "open debate is the very value preserved by the First Amendment."
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE COURT'S DECISION?
0 responses to Student Political Expression
Icon of Freedom
Paul Robeson
Actor & Activist
Robeson, perhaps the greatest renaissance man the U.S. bore in the
twentieth century, used his platform as a
performer to speak out against fascism, racism, colonialism, and the
oppression of workers. Lloyd Brown, a
writer and long-time colleague of Robeson, called him "the most persecuted, the most ostracized, the most condemned black man
in America, then or ever."
