Posted on 07/06/2009 2:01:59 PM PDT by rawhide
A California mom says her public school administrators violated her daughter's First Amendment rights when they ordered the seventh-grader to take off her pro-life T-shirt.
Anna Amador has gone to court on behalf of her daughter, who she says was ordered by her principal to change her shirt on "National Pro-Life T-Shirt Day." The shirt the girl was wearing displays two graphic pictures of a fetus growing in the womb.
The incident occurred in April 2008 at McSwain Elementary School, a K-8 school in Merced, Calif. Amador alleges in her legal complaint that school Principal Terrie Rohrer, Assistant Principal C.W. Smith and office clerk Martha Hernandez mistreated her daughter and denied the girl her First Amendment rights when they ordered her to leave the cafeteria and change her shirt.
"Before Plaintiff could eat [breakfast] she was ordered by a school staff member to throw her food out and report immediately to Defendant Smith's office, located in the main office of McSwain Elementary School," the complaint reads.
"Upon arriving at the main office, Defendant Hernandez, intentionally and without Plaintiff's consent, grabbed Plaintiff's arm and forcibly escorted her toward Smith's office, at all times maintaining a vice-like grip on Plaintiff's arm. Hernandez only released Plaintiff's arm after physically locating her in front of Smith and Defendant Rohrer...
"Smith and Rohrer ordered Plaintiff to remove her pro-life T-shirt and instructed Plaintiff to never wear her pro-life T-shirt at McSwain Elementary School ever again.
"Completely humiliated and held out for ridicule, Plaintiff complied with Defendants' directives and removed her pro-life T-shirt, whereupon, Defendants seized and confiscated it. Defendants did not return Plaintiff's property until the end of the school day.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
I agree with the school. Children should not be sent to school as walking billboards for any political cause, on the left or right.
If abortion was no big deal then shirts like this wouldn’t cause an controversy.
So where does that leave their ability to speak freely in any medium?
On another note...why is she eating breakfast at school?
“other inappropriate subject matter.”
In other words, whatever the education Nazis don’t like.
Either uniforms, private education or home schooling will solve this problem.
But, if schools tried to “oppress” someone wearing a “gay pride” shirt,
they’d be sued.
We’re just asking for equal time here.
"Graphic"? Isn't that a word you use to describe something violent, immoral, or disgusting? What's a "fetus" supposed to do except grow?
Oh, that's right. Die.
Even if they found the shirt offensive, there was no good reason to make the girl miss her breakfast and be manhandled to the office.
It is a major stretch to deem this T-Shirt has the "suggestion of tobacco, drug or alcohol use, sexual promiscuity, profanity, vulgarity, or other inappropriate subject matter."
Virtually all urban and many rural schools have FREE Breakfast and lunch for all students. Thank you for your generous contribution and help.
Who decides what is/isn't appropriate?
Do they cut pages out of the students' science textbooks as well?
There are quite a few kids in before school care as both mom and dad work. Some of the programs are open as early as 6:30AM so the kids buy breakfast at school.
You wouldn't win that case in court.
Hello. It is politically incorrect. It comes down on the WRONG side of the issue.
“I agree with the school. Children should not be sent to school as walking billboards for any political cause, on the left or right”
Do you think a Che Guevara shirt would cause the teachers to toss her breakfast, and then be detained?
The pictures are "graphic?" Really? A child growing inside the womb is now graphic? Amazing.
He opined long ago that perhaps the best solution is to just out and out say “A kid doesn't have 1st amendment rights at school.”
At first I was appalled at this view. But slowly but surely I am coming around to it.
The law already states that the school is the de facto “parent” while the child is under their care. Parents DO exercise control over the actions, words, and dress of their children.
This would HOPEFULLY not be an example of the school telling kids what to think, or saying some views are allowed and others disallowed; it should just be a blanket “do that on your own time, you are here to learn right now, not teach, motivate, proselytize, politicize or propagandize.”
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