Posted on 03/08/2019 7:01:16 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Last Friday, Perry High School in Gilbert, Ariz., suspended student Logan Jones after a security officer reprimanded her as she posed for photos in a "Make America Great Again" (MAGA) sweater while holding a pro-Trump "Make America Great Again" flag. On Wednesday, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) sent a demand letter warning of legal action unless the school dropped the suspension. The school agreed to allow Jones to return to school that day but it refused to remove the suspension from her record.
"Public schools have a duty to respect the legitimate free expression of students that the First Amendment guarantees to them," Tyson Langhofer, ADF senior counsel and director of the Center for Academic Freedom, wrote in a statement Thursday. "While it’s good that the school is allowing Logan to return to school, it isn’t acceptable that this unjust suspension will remain on her record."
ADF will not accept this state of affairs. "As we continue discussions with the school, we are also consulting with Logan and her mother to determine what our next steps will be if the school doesn’t do the right thing and remove the suspension," Langhofer added.
According to the demand letter, Jones and her friends had dressed in patriotic and USA-themed clothing for a "Party in the USA Day" on Friday of Spirit Week.
"Immediately after school was dismissed at 2:14 p.m., [Jones] and a few of her friends went to one of the outdoor common areas of campus to take pictures together before they went home," the letter reads. "This is a common practice for [Jones] and many other students and it happens virtually every day after school without any interference by school officials. Less than five minutes after they arrived, while [Jones] and her friend were taking a picture in their MAGA sweatshirts and holding a flag that said 'Trump' and 'Make America Great Again,' a School Resource Officer approached and ordered [Jones] and her friends to leave."
Jones immediately obeyed and started packing up to leave. The officer took photos of her and her friends with his phone, began following her as she left campus, and then ordered her to give him her name. Jones asked why he needed her name, as she was complying with his order. At that point, the officer told her to speak with Vice Principal Heather Patterson.
Jones called her mother and told her about the situation. Her mother said she would come to the school herself and told Jones not to speak with anyone until she arrived. At the office, Jones was again asked to give her name. She "politely replied that her mother was on her way to the office and that her mother had instructed her not to answer any questions until she arrived."
Once the mother arrived, a brief discussion ensued between the mother, Principal Dan Serrano, Vice Principal Patterson, and the officer. Principal Serrano left, saying, "I am tired of hearing this. Logan Jones, you are suspended for 10 days. Get off of school property."
Jones was allegedly suspended for failing to identify herself to school officials, yet ADF argued that "this reason was mere pretext."
"Contrary to the stated reason, there is ample evidence to establish that you imposed the suspension against [Jones] based on a disagreement with the viewpoint of [Jones's] message," the letter states. "Multiple videos demonstrate the hostility that School officials displayed towards the messages expressing support for President Trump and his MAGA slogan. And it is our understanding that other students have been punished as well for expressing similar viewpoints."
"This blatant censorship of [Jones's] speech violates the First Amendment," the letter declares.
In dropping the suspension, the school seems to have recognized that punishing Jones for her pro-Trump and MAGA demonstration was a violation of her free speech. Even so, the school reportedly is refusing to drop the suspension from the girl's record.
No school should suspend a student for expressing a political viewpoint. Sadly, many liberals have stigmatized Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan as hateful, and it appears these school officials consider MAGA unacceptable. This school should have learned from the backlash and lawsuits after the media ran with the story that the MAGA hat-wearing Covington High School boys were haters.
The school's action violates the First Amendment. Students have the right to wear MAGA sweaters and hold Trump flags. This is outrageous.
bttt
They’re going to own that school.
You go girls!!
Sue the living sh!t out that School district, Superintendent, Principal, and security people, and/or anyone involved in this.
OWN THAT PLACE!!!
Stupid School will be sued into the ground.....................
GO GIRLS is right! A LOUD MESSAGE NEEDS TO BE SENT and hitting everyone in the pocketbooks is one way!
Not guilty!
And, way to go girls!
Anything from the ACLU on this?
They’re cute....obviously not Progressive/Libs just from the faces.
I bet you 50 bucks the school security guard is black.
This principal sounds like a real pr**k ... a flaming liberal no doubt.
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I can already hear it...”Look at the smug, racist, white Privileged smirk on the little Nazi. She’s probably thinking about discriminating someone....etc.
I hope the sue the crap out of someone.
If the suspension was dropped, it has no business remaining on their records.
That’s falsifying their records and should leave them open for charges of libel and slander, and defamation of character.
Too bad they're weren't celebrating the mass murderer Che... their idiot 'teachers' would have swooned...
I completely disagree with asking/demanding that the school “make it right”. For years, we’ve heard that students have rights, but, like every other aspect of society, that’s apparently the case only when they/we agree with progressive dogma.
I would file immediate lawsuits against the school, the school district, the principle, the superintendent, but ESPECIALLY the SRO. Following the students around and taking pictures of them after school? Are you f***ing kidding me! Is that the role of School Resource Officers, to enforce political dogma? You can bet your rosy ass that he/she would not have done that to a student carrying a Mexican flag, wearing a Che Guevara t-shirt or a Rainbow sweatshirt.
Yeah, crickets...
“Public schools have a duty to respect the legitimate free expression of students that the First Amendment guarantees to them”
This hangs on the word “legitimate”. If the ‘expression’ is disruptive or distracting dangerous then it should be prohibited.
The kids are forced go to schools that we adults pay for. We expect the schools to hold the kids to their lessons.
Democrats are scum.
Maybe the President of the United States could ask to visit the school. Lol
Gary Hart visited my high school a few days before he was exposed and eliminated from contention for the presidency in 1987. I shook his hand even though I would not have voted for him. We were all respectful. We all dressed up for his visit. Only a few classes were allowed to hear him speak.
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