Posted on 04/21/2006 12:17:32 PM PDT by DogByte6RER
ADF attorneys plan to appeal “extremely poor” ruling from 9th Circuit in Poway “T-shirt” case
Thursday, April 20, 2006, 4:45 PM (MST)
ADF Media Relations | 480-444-0020
“The majority implied that Brokeback Mountain is in, and the Bible is out," said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Kevin Theriot.
School administrator to student: "Leave your faith in the car"
PASADENA, Calif. — Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund say they plan to appeal today’s ruling by two judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit who upheld a high school’s decision to prohibit a student from expressing his views regarding homosexual behavior on a T-shirt.
“Students do not give up their First Amendment rights at the schoolhouse door,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Kevin Theriot. “This panel has upheld school censorship of student expression if it is the Christian view of homosexual behavior. They have essentially determined that student quotation of Scripture can be prohibited. This case will proceed at the district court level, but we intend to appeal today’s extremely poor ruling to the full 9th Circuit.”
ADF attorneys represent Poway High School student Chase Harper, who was forbidden by school officials from wearing a T-shirt expressing his religious point of view on homosexual behavior. A school administrator told Harper to “leave his faith in the car” when his faith might offend others (www.telladf.org/news/story.aspx?cid=2746).
The decision today by the two-judge majority of a three-judge 9th Circuit panel upholds a lower court’s denial of a motion by ADF attorneys that asked for Poway High School’s policy regarding the T-shirt to be immediately halted while the case moves forward.
The third judge, Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski, vigorously dissented: “I have considerable difficulty with giving school authorities the power to decide that only one side of a controversial topic may be discussed in the school environment because the opposing point of view is too extreme or demeaning.... The fundamental problem with the majority’s approach is that it has no anchor anywhere in the record or in the law. It is entirely a judicial creation, hatched to deal with the situation before us, but likely to cause innumerable problems in the future.”
The two-judge majority criticized Kozinski, suggesting that the majority could rely upon the motion pictures Brokeback Mountain or The Matthew Shepard Story “as evidence of the harmful effects of anti-gay harassment....”
“The majority implied that Brokeback Mountain is in, and the Bible is out. What’s really broken here is the majority’s approach to the First Amendment,” Theriot observed.
“The court has manufactured new law in the area of student speech in saying students cannot say anything that school officials deem ‘demeaning’ to another,” Theriot explained. “This is the same court that ruled that parental rights stop at the schoolhouse gate and that ‘God’ should be removed from the Pledge of Allegiance. This case is not over.”
The opinion issued by the 9th Circuit in the case Harper v. Poway Unified School District can be read at www.telladf.org/UserDocs/HarperOpinion.pdf.
ADF is a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.
www.telladf.org
Now...we have these two clowns on the 9th Circus Court of Appeals citing Hollywood's propaganda film "Brokeback Mountain" in abjudicating this case from Poway. This is truly adding insult to injury.
We are truly staring down into the abyss and there is nothing to keep us from falling in.
The only bright side is that the 9th Circuit is the MOST frequently overturned appelate court in the nation. SCOTUS routinely overturns decisions meted out by this judicail abomination based in San Francisco.
If it were a teacher then it would have been academic freedom.. but not likely to carry the same message.
What did the shirt say?
So what did the t-shirt say/show?
So, which religions approve homosexuality?
Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski,
U. S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Nominated by Ronald Reagan
During the 2004 homosexual "Day of Silence" promoted by his high school, Harper wore a black T-shirt on which he wrote in bold, capital letters: “I will not accept what God has condemned” and “Homosexuality is shameful 'Romans 1:27' ” on the back.
For more on the background of this go to:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/education/20060421-9999-7m21tshirt.html
Free speech for me, but not for thee!
The only acceptable free speech is that which liberals believe. If the shirt had said F*** BUSH (without the ***'s) it would have been perfectly fine.
"“I will not accept what God has condemned” and “Homosexuality is shameful 'Romans 1:27' ” on the back."
Although I agree with the phrases, I think they don't belong in school.
I believe a school should forbid any distractions, from statement t-shirts and arm bands, to outlandish clothing and haircuts.
If a student body becomes mired in wearing competing, confrontational messages, then the school should have the right to go to uniforms.
Boohoohoo. What about the vulnerability of other teenagers whose beliefs may be assaulted by homosexuality? They don't count. Homosexuals are a vulnerable, oppressed, victim, and therefore protected class, at least in the eyes of the 9th Circus.
The only religion that is free to be expressed in public schools is liberal secularism......
In this case, where the young man was reacting to a homosexual "day of silence", the administration has preempted only one side of the argument. That's the problem.
I agree. That's why - now that I am safely out of high school - I support school uniforms.
If I ever have kids, Catholic schools are looking pretty good right now.
Leave our kids alone, dammit!
From their web site(http://www.dayofsilence.org/) :
The Day of Silence®, a project of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN®) in collaboration with the United States Student Association (USSA), is a student-led day of action where those who support making anti-LGBT bullying and harassment unacceptable in schools take part in activities to recognize and protest the discrimination and harassment - in effect, the silencing - experienced by LGBT students and their allies.
"In this case, where the young man was reacting to a homosexual "day of silence", the administration has preempted only one side of the argument. That's the problem."
While my post makes sense generally, it didn't in this specific case.
I didn't realize this was a response to a government obscenity.
The government had already stepped outside the boundaries of rationality by imposing a homosexual advocacy day.
The schools previous action calls for rebellion and demonstrations by all members of that community.
How this situation became about a t-shirt istead of the school administration is beyond me.
If its not pro gay,it holds no sway!
That's one of the points made in the dissent, that the school was promoting that viewpoint and in essence stifling any response. Since the school had had violence during the prior "day of silence," why didn't they just cancel it instead of repressing opposing viewpoints?
I believe a school should forbid any distractions, from statement t-shirts and arm bands, to outlandish clothing and haircuts.
&&
I agree with you in principle, but this kid was reacting to the "Day of Silence" imposed upon him by his school, which apparently was promoting homosexual behavior.
I agree, Read post 15.
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