Anti- Bush Buttons a test in free speech

[IChing]

Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
Robin L. Flanigan, Staff writer

BRIGHTON — The Brighton school district is investigating whether it needs to train staffers on First Amendment rights after a Twelve Corners Middle School student was told to remove two buttons bashing President Bush.

As instructed by a teacher's aide Sept. 28, seventh-grader Rebecca Braiman-Dewey took off the souvenirs she had bought four days earlier at an anti-war rally in Washington, D.C.

The buttons read "Impeach Bush" and "Fire the Liar" — the latter showing President Bush's face with a Pinnochio-sized nose.

The 12-year-old and her mother, Nancy Braiman, charged at the next Board of Education meeting Oct. 11 that the aide violated the girl's First Amendment rights to freedom of expression. Braiman asked the district to conduct a workshop for all employees on the Bill of Rights.

"I'm concerned about people not being clear on the First Amendment," said Braiman, a local political activist. "I'm hoping that our school district will take some kind of lead, be an example for the rest of the community.">>>>snip

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/3897

[zann725]

1. You go girl! Sounds like it happened to just the student whose parent

would "confront Authority with the Truth." Isn't that what Teresa Kerry said was the true test of Democracy?

[sarcasmo]

2. Where do I get mine.

[bluestateguy]

3. Clear violation of Tinker vs. Des Moines (1969)

This is not a complex issue at all.

[soup]

8. Thanks, bluestateguy. Well done! to Mary Beth Tinker and her mother.

Students do not, the Court tells us in Tinker vs. Des Moines, "shed their constitutional rights when they enter the schoolhouse door." But it is also the case that school administrators have a far greater ability to restrict the speech of their students than the government has to restrict the speech of the general public. Student speech cases require a balancing of the legitimate educational objectives and need for school discipline of administrators against the First Amendment values served by extending speech rights of students.

In Tinker, perhaps the best known of the Court's student speech cases, the Court found that the First Amendment protected the right of high school students to wear black armbands in a public high school, as a form of protest against the Viet Nam War. The Court ruled that this symbolic speech--"closely akin to pure speech"--could only be prohibited by school administrators if they could show that it would cause a substantial disruption of the school's educational mission.
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/studentspeech.htm

[LiberalFighter]

17. I wonder what the school does during election times...

if they have any type of mock elections

or

if they cover elections in their history or govt classes?

[Not Me]

4. Her mom is a well known consumer activist in the area...

Pretty gutsy woman, who has taken on (and won) many challenges in the past.

[LosinIt]

5. Brighton, a suburb of Rochester, NY, I'll bet Susan B is proud

Rochester has long been a breeding ground of progressive thinking. Although it can be a conservative area in some ways, it also spawns many great activists. Frederick Douglass lived here for many years also.

[TahitiNut]

6. Brighton is a noteworthy 'inner' suburb of Rochester.

I lived there, on Orchard Drive near the "Twelve Corners," between 1976 and 1983. It's an older but fairly affluent middle-class community with residents covering the full spectrum, from DINKS to empty-nesters and from reform Jews to conservative Catholics to secular humanists. Home prices these days would be mostly in the $150,000 to $300,000 range, with some going as high as $1M or more. The salaried workers would rarely take more than 20-25 minutes to commute to work. The stereotypical community involvement of Jewish residents, and the area's most prominent synagogue, alongside the rat-race professionals made for an energetic environment. The hard-rock conservatives in the Rochester area tend to be in the west and southeast of the city. I'd consider Brighton to be mostly moderate-to-liberal.

[mamalone]

7. Sadly,

I live just to the west of Rochester in a definitely "hard-rock conservative" area, as you aptly call it:-( My immediate county is so RED I hesitated put Kerry signs up in my yard as I was concerned about the backlash on my kids. Hard to believe such a conservative area exists in NY state.

[BiggJawn]

9. The school didn't fall back on the "Disruptive Behavior" claim?

They need to talk to their colleagues in Indiana, because here they would have told mom that while they're "sensitive" to the First Amendment, the need for "order" outweighs the desire for personal expression, And Rebbecca's buttons cause "disruptions" in the classroom.

Hell, the aide's Kool-Aid buzz was "disrupted", wasn't it?

My daughter used to get ordered to wash her face all the time for wearing black makeup. Did no good for me to complain, because I was given the "can't upset the farmer's kids" argument every time.

[LizW]

14. Yep, the "disruptive" catch-all is widely used here, too

No black eye make-up or lipstick, no spiked hair, no hair colors except "natural" ones, no trench coats or hoodies.

[Ferret Annica]

10. Student political efficacy should be encouraged

All these brown booters are doing is trying to kick these kids in the ass and make them as miserably fearful of caring about the political process as possible.

The donation class of American, the one tenth of one percent of people who give multi thousand contributions send the message to the kid's overseers; "rich kids grow up to chose American leaders, punish those income challenged bastards, but good."

"Kick them in the ass and break any idea that real political power for them in America is more then an illusion."

Hit this school where it hurts, sue the bastards and deafend these kid's right to speak their minds politically.

[Cha]

11. This is Wonderful news!

Yeah, I can't wear "Fire The Liar" at work cause there would be Whiny pissing and moaning from the spiked koolaid krowd but this is a school where the last I heard we have free expession.

[Critters2]

12. Clear violation of Des Moines

I don't know where you work, but if it's a guvmint job, you may have the right to wear the buttons. If it's a private employer, the 1st Amendment doesn't apply. The Constitution limits what the government can do.

But kids can certainly wear buttons and other things that carry political messages at school. As someone earlier pointed out, Tinker vs Des Moines is absolutely clear about this.

[Cha]

13. My employer has already

pulled me aside last year and told me there were various complaints from customers about my political dialogue at work..fundies can't handle it the truth.

I told her I would zip it but my car is parked right out front with two Kerry/Edwards, Dean For American, Protect Our Troops!, and Democraticunderground.com Stickers!

[northzax]

18. not a federal employee

a federal employee cannot use government time for political purposes. on the government's dime? that's the government's time. I would be offended by any political statement I saw at a government office, even if I agreed with it.

[Arkana]

15. That is a violation of the First Amendment, and I'm glad they're saying so

[sakabatou]

16. Everyone should know their rights

It's too bad that the kool-aid drinkers don't.

[NVMojo]

19. what a crock of crap!

reminds me, I saw an old bumper sticker from 2000 ..."somewhere a town is Texas is missing its idiot" today ....

[WindRavenX]

20. how on earth do these buttons cause a disruption?

:wtf:

[MarsThe Cat]

21. wanna guess what school is gonna have a new dress code soon...?

NO buttons allowed.

[nvliberal]

22. The kid is in the right here.

If it were a teacher wearing this stuff, that would be much different.

[mseang]

23. The most important quote.

"If our district has this issue and it's so diverse and tolerant, what about districts that have a more conservative community?"

I worked in a small public school outside of Augusta, GA a few years ago and had this student attended this school she would lose this fight. The teachers openly discussed religion in their classes and were very pro Bush. As she said, it is very disturbing that this is happening in a community such as this.

Of course, the faculty lounge at this school was a treat. All I had to do was imply that Clinton was a much better President than "w" and the blood pressures would boil over. Then I would quietly leave the room and they would continue to steam for at least the rest of their lunch period. Occasionally someone would visit me after school, still upset about what I said. It was the one joy I had while I lived in this intolerant, conservative community. This made the worst days somewhat bearable. :)