Posted on 05/20/2003 6:45:45 AM PDT by Jimmyclyde
Supreme Court Won't Hear Redneck T-Shirt Case
(AP) (WASHINGTON) The Supreme Court refused Monday to consider whether students can be barred from taking their redneck humor to class.
Justices rejected an appeal from a school district that wanted the court to allow it to bar redneck attire. It was a victory for a New Jersey teenager suspended for wearing a T-shirt he bought at a Wal-Mart store. He also had been criticized for wearing shirts with the Confederate flag.
The case raised an interesting question about how far school leaders can go to prevent discipline problems, without violating students' free speech rights.
An appeals court held that the word "redneck" was not used to intimidate and harass other students, and that the school in New Jersey overstepped its bounds in punishing Thomas Sypniewski Jr. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia questioned whether schools would next try to stop the use of other words like hillbilly.
Officials in the district in rural Warren County, N.J., claimed Sypniewki's shirt, featuring jokes of comedian Jeff Foxworthy, violated an anti-harassment and intimidation policy enacted because of racial tension at the high school. The policy also banned the display of the Confederate flag on school grounds or at school events. Court records show the school has few black students.
James Broscious, the school district's attorney, had urged the court to schedule arguments in the case, telling justices "this issue is very significant, considering the current situation in our nation's schools, and the need for administrations to be proactive to ensure a safe atmosphere for all the children."
Broscious did not immediately return a call for comment Monday.
Gerald Walpin, the attorney for Sypniewski, who has already graduated, said there were no problems with redneck T-shirts at the high school near the Pennsylvania border.
"This is an appropriate decision given the previous pronouncements by the Supreme Court allowing students to express their opinions through their dress as long as it does not cause disruption or upheaal in the schools," Walpin said Monday.
Sypniewski was suspended for three days for wearing the shirt that bore comedian Foxworthy's "Top 10 Reasons You Might Be a Redneck Sports Fan." Among them: "you wear a baseball cap to bed," and "you know the Hooter's menu by heart."
LOL!!
Post your redneck humor here!!
...if your hunting standing has a mailing address.
...people see your front lawn and think there's a yard sale
...you think Taco Bell is a Mexican phone company.
...you think the last verse to the Star Spangled Banner is "Gentlemen, start your engines!"
I guy I used to work with looked a lot like Jeff Foxworthy and was a big hunter...so we got him a "You might be a redneck if..." calendar for his birthday one year. I still remember a lot of them.
You have a home that's mobile and 14 cars that aren't...
Your family tree has only one fork...
Your Dad walks you to school each day because he's in your class...
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