Jacqueline Duty in her prom dress (Photo: Lexington Herald-Leader).
Posted on 12/21/2004 11:22:26 PM PST by JohnHuang2
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
Jacqueline Duty in her prom dress (Photo: Lexington Herald-Leader). |
A high-school senior who was barred from her prom because she showed up wearing a self-designed sequined dress patterned after the Confederate flag has filed suit, claiming her First Amendment rights were violated.
Jacqueline Duty came to the Russell High School prom May 1 wearing the dress and was told to leave, according to a report in the Lexington, Ky., Herald-Leader.
School officials had gotten wind that she would wear the gown and, her lawyers say, wouldn't even let her leave her vehicle.
"Her only dance for her senior prom was on the sidewalk to a song playing on the radio," Earl-Ray Neal, her lawyer, told the local paper.
Duty is suing not only on First Amendment grounds, but for defamation, false imprisonment and assault. The suit seeks damages in excess of $50,000.
Showing a news conference the controversial dress on Monday, Duty defended her actions.
"I wanted to show part of my Southern heritage," she said. The Herald-Leader reports she had worked on the dress' design for four years and that she said it had always been her dream to wear a Confederate-themed dress to her senior prom.
While Duty acknowledges some people are offended by the Confederate flag, she says that's no reason to bar her from expressing herself.
"Everyone has their own opinion," she said. "But that's not mine. I'm proud of where I came from and my background."
According to the report, the Sons of Confederate Veterans have agreed to help pay some of Duty's legal costs.
Duty, 19, who now attends Shawnee State University in Ohio, says the principal warned her not to wear the dress, but she didn't have another one available. She decided to go to the promo anyway in hopes officials would change their minds.
The lawsuit claims the principal, Sean Howard, and two police officers met Duty outside the school.
"Howard intimidated (Duty) by physically striking the vehicle in which she was sitting," the lawsuit said.
Duty says she was surprised by the tough stance taken against her.
"We've all worn Confederate flags to school before," she told the paper.
Her lawyer said Duty lost many scholarships because she was portrayed as a racist after the incident.
Point being, of course, that the PC sods won't ever back off until the game becomes too expensive for them to play.
And, btw, having seen the photo, that gown has no more to do with the Confederate battle flag than my unwashed shorts have to do with the Black Watch tartan.
That's a gorgeous gown and she looks great in it! Kudos to her for the design.
I must say, it is the best gown I have ever seen...and I'm a Yankee!
Where are the liberals who whine about self expression now?
If you've ever worn a Confederate flag as a prom dress... you might be a Redneck..
Good question
Motion seconded ;-)
The Confederate Flag....trash
A crucifix in urine.....art.
Go figure!
That's it in a nutshell.
The girl designs and makes her own prom dress, honors her heritage in doing it, it's beautiful and she looks great in it. While at proms around the country other girls are on drugs and having babies in the bathroom. So this girl gets harrassed. I must be getting old.
Well said.
...and murdering them in the bathroom, and going back to the dancefloor (never forget Michelle Drexler)
American heritages are officially banned, especially our Christian one.
Now listen up all you good citizens of America; there's nothing for us to be proud of regarding the history of our Southern states, as the Confederate flag was created to stand for bigotry. And our ancestors and the Founding Fathers never wanted the Christian faith to have any influence in government affairs, because religion is dangerous and needs to expressed in the confines of a church building or in the seclusion of your home. Previous laws against sodomy and abortion were nothing more than blatant bigotry against "gays" and women by chauvenist white males, so don't you dare speak out against either lest you be smitten by a law suit or a hate crime charge for trying to exhume a burried Christian heritage.
BTW, that young lady looked lovely in her hand made gown. But now I'm wondering when the pc police will force the New York YANKEES to change their name because it 'offends' people by forcing them to recall the Civil War?
The liberals wouldn't have troubled this young lady about her 'confederate' gown if she had shown up arm-in-arm with her lesbian lover, or if the dress had represented the Communist symbol of hammer & sickle. THAT'S the type of 'self expression' the vermin liberals fight for.
Much better curves than the old General Lee!
good thing she isn't a liberal or people would be making fun of those ham hock arms
I have nothing against the Confederate flag, but boy is she fat. I mean, FAT.
My question is;With her around, Who the hell needs a prom?
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