Jacqueline Duty in her prom dress (Photo: Lexington Herald-Leader).
Posted on 12/21/2004 11:22:26 PM PST by JohnHuang2
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
Jacqueline Duty in her prom dress (Photo: Lexington Herald-Leader). |
A high-school senior who was barred from her prom because she showed up wearing a self-designed sequined dress patterned after the Confederate flag has filed suit, claiming her First Amendment rights were violated.
Jacqueline Duty came to the Russell High School prom May 1 wearing the dress and was told to leave, according to a report in the Lexington, Ky., Herald-Leader.
School officials had gotten wind that she would wear the gown and, her lawyers say, wouldn't even let her leave her vehicle.
"Her only dance for her senior prom was on the sidewalk to a song playing on the radio," Earl-Ray Neal, her lawyer, told the local paper.
Duty is suing not only on First Amendment grounds, but for defamation, false imprisonment and assault. The suit seeks damages in excess of $50,000.
Showing a news conference the controversial dress on Monday, Duty defended her actions.
"I wanted to show part of my Southern heritage," she said. The Herald-Leader reports she had worked on the dress' design for four years and that she said it had always been her dream to wear a Confederate-themed dress to her senior prom.
While Duty acknowledges some people are offended by the Confederate flag, she says that's no reason to bar her from expressing herself.
"Everyone has their own opinion," she said. "But that's not mine. I'm proud of where I came from and my background."
According to the report, the Sons of Confederate Veterans have agreed to help pay some of Duty's legal costs.
Duty, 19, who now attends Shawnee State University in Ohio, says the principal warned her not to wear the dress, but she didn't have another one available. She decided to go to the promo anyway in hopes officials would change their minds.
The lawsuit claims the principal, Sean Howard, and two police officers met Duty outside the school.
"Howard intimidated (Duty) by physically striking the vehicle in which she was sitting," the lawsuit said.
Duty says she was surprised by the tough stance taken against her.
"We've all worn Confederate flags to school before," she told the paper.
Her lawyer said Duty lost many scholarships because she was portrayed as a racist after the incident.
She has a clever schtick: red-state anger. And she has the wit and mind to make it good.
When she is idolized for her beauty on FR, I understand, but respectfully disagree. Obviously she has beautiful face, however I worry about her low-body-weight.
Yet there are those who attest (second- or third-hand here on FR) that this is simply her natural state, and that she is not somehow starving herself. I hope that's so. While obviously a beautiful woman, in addition to being pretty, she is not really my type.
I hope it's her natural state. Girls like Lara Flynn Boyle CLAIM their skeletal cancer patient look is natural BUT I'll believe that when my mom stops nagging me.
Again I'll say, your mom sounds like a gem. Does she nag you as too skinny or not skinny enough?
Not skinny enough. Boy if she saw that girl's pic, my mom would go bananas *LOL*
Monica Crowley
I love Laura for her crackling wit and merciless sarcasm. Her show begins streaming on ksky.com in 270 minutes. ;O)
LOL okay
I'm with ya there. I like a woman who likes to EAT!
Which is good because I like to COOK.
Wanna bet she makes a mint off that dress design!
There is. Just keep doing what we're doing. SOMEONE will mention it. Either Rush, Hannity, or Brit will bring it up and make it national.
I just hope she will learn of the support she'll have from us, because the left might get brutal and she'll need someone.
FReepers will be there for her.
That would be nice.
It doesn't seem garish to me, nor does it seem to be an outlandish attention-getter, nor does it seem to be anatomically provocative.
It wouldn't surprise me if there were girls at that prom who were allowed to show up half naked.
longjack
Did you click the link under the picture? There's a short paragraph there describing the incident from the girl's perspective.
If the report is accuate, I think the school officials acted unprofessionally and have earned the poor publicity.
longjack
My gosh, I cant believe some of the things they do let girls wear and then they ban this?
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