By: Amanda Sundquist
On December 17, 2010, I blogged about a First Amendment law suit brought by two middle school students against Easton Area School District in federal court. The District banned the wearing of “I (heart) Boobies” bracelets distributed by the Keep A Breast Foundation. The students were suspended for failing to comply with the ban.
On April 12, 2011, the federal court granted a preliminary injunction in favor of the two students, which prohibits the school district from continuing with its bracelet ban. The federal court also concluded that: (1) the school district did not show that wearing the bracelets caused a substantial disruption to the school district sufficient to allow the school district to impose discipline and (2) the bracelets could not be reasonably found to be lewd or vulgar speech under the standard of School District v. Fraser so the school district could not utilize the Fraser exception. The federal court’s memorandum can be found here.
For disciplinary issues associated with your school district’s speech or dress polices, please contact me in our West Chester office.
