ACLU to honor teen activist ( Bush is a terrorist T-shirt )

Detriot News ^

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

Dearborn High School junior Bretton Barber was sent home Feb. 17 after he refused to turn his shirt inside out or take it off.

DEARBORN -- The 11th-grader at Dearborn High School who was sent home for wearing a T-shirt that called President Bush an international terrorist will be honored by the man who sparked the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on freedom of speech in schools.

[Phantom Lord]

Did the ACLU honor the kid who wore a "Straight Pride" t-shirt to his high school and was ordered to take it off?

[Sender]

I wonder if they would be so quick to honor him if he had worn a "Yasser Arafat: International Terrorist" t-shirt in Dearborn, thereby causing a riot in the school.

[Nagual]

American Civil Liberties Union, a target rich environment!

Just one MOAB!!!!

[goldstategop]

To the ACLU and the Left President Bush IS a terrorist.

[LiteKeeper]

"Woe unto those who call evil good, and good evil."

[Zavien Doombringer]

The 11th-grader at Dearborn High School who was sent home forwearing a T-shirt that called President Bush an international terrorist will be honored by the man who sparked the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on freedom of speech in schools.

What does wearing a t-shirt have anything to do with the First Admendment rights? Freedom of expression is not granted, but freedom of speech and peaceful assembly to Express grievences...

[Welsh Rabbit]

Great. Some dumb punk who was just crying for attention gets a ceremony in his honor, far exceeding the expectations he had for the shirt to begin with. This will ensure he won't be growing up anytime soon; instead of learning to develop inwardly, he'll probably be engaging in immature grandstanding throughout his adult life.

[william clark]

I think the best response would be to let the kid wear the shirt, and then start marketing T-shirts to the students bearing his picture with the caption "Ignorant Pr-ck".

[only1percent]

I actually don't mind this. People who exercise their free speach like this only make themselves -- and their cause -- look ridiculous.

And the ACLU defending this is doing EXACTLY what the ACLU is supposed to do: defending unpopular speech. What makes me furious about the ACLU is their hypocritical actions to SUPRESS speech and diversity of thought, usually on spurious separation of church and state grounds (such as their opposition to innocuous graduation and football game prayers, and especially their opposition to school choice.)

Finally, I think that we should be smart enough, and the law sophisticated enough, to make the distinction between radical free speach (things like this t-shirt, or, on the conservative side, the people who bring the 20 feet high pictures of aborted fetuses to college campuses), and deliberate encitement to riot.

[SamiGirl]

A mini Michael Moore!

[arly]

I wonder how a White Pride T shirt would go over with the ACLU socialists or for that matter an NRA T shirt in school.

[Tigercap]

Their choice is very telling.

[CommandoFrank]

the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on Barber's behalf to force the district to let him wear the shirt.

Any bets that if the shirt said "I love Bush and the Military" and was told to take it off, the ACLU would have still interveened?

Or how about if the shirt said "Jesus loves you..." in large letters, followed by "but the rest of us think you're an a$$hole" in smaller letters?

[only1percent]

The ACLU would be very likely to defend someone wearing an NRA t-shirt. White pride, not as likely, as they would deem that intended to intimidate and opress non-white people, i.e., the t-shirt is action to be opposed, not speech to be protected. (Interestingly, this is the exact distinction which the U.S. Supreme Court just applied to determine what kind of cross burnings can be made illegal under anti-Klan laws.)

[Skooz]

Beat me to it.

How about the kid who wore the pro-life t-shirt from Rock-for-Life? I doubt they dialed his number, either.

[Fixit]

 

  I wonder if the ACLU would defend
a student hassled for wearing
one of these shirts?

[SunStar]

Did the ACLU honor the kid who wore a "Straight Pride" t-shirt to his high school and was ordered to take it off?

I believe they spoke out in his favor, though the student preferred using a conservative legal group.

[adversarial]

wow...I want one of those (post #18)