District to appeal ``Redneck'' T-shirt ruling to U.S. Supreme Court

Express Times ^ | November 19, 2002 | BILL BRAY

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WASHINGTON TWP. -- The Warren Hills Regional School Board will ask the highest court in the land to decide if a "You Might Be a Redneck If" T-shirt should be allowed in school.

Board attorney James Broscious will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to rule whether the school has the right to preemptively restrict student speech if it fears that speech could cause trouble.

"The administration needs to have the ability to be proactive," Broscious said.

In October, a three-judge panel from the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the school couldn't ban clothing or speech unless it had proof it would cause problems or unrest within the student body. The ruling allowed the school to continue its ban of the Confederate flag, the initial target of the anti-harassment policy, but eliminated any restrictions on the word "redneck."

In 2000, a group of students that calls itself "The Hicks" paraded through Warren Hills Regional High School carrying the Confederate flag and telling racial jokes. The group also held "White Power Wednesdays" at the school.

Black students, who make up about 8 percent of the 1,200-student population, became angry and racial tensions grew. School officials said this tension led to a handful of fights and other incidents at the high school.

The court said the history of unrest made the ban of the Stars and Bars constitutional. However, the school had no record that the word "redneck," despite its association with a group of students known for their racial intolerance, caused similar problems.

Broscious said the racially charged atmosphere still exists but emotions are running below the surface. There have been no recent racial incidents at the school, he said.

Last week, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals denied the school's request to revisit its October ruling. Now, the school board's only chance to save its policy is an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Odds of going before the high court are not in Warren Hills' favor.

Every year, the Supreme Court receives more than 8,000 requests for appeals, Broscious said. From those, the court selects only 80 cases, he said. The school board hopes a discrepancy between two circuit court decisions will elevate its case high enough to be accepted.

The 10th Circuit Court ruled previously that schools have the right to act before problems begin, he said. Only the Supreme Court can sort things out to make one law for the entire country, Broscious said.

"That should raise the odds," he said.

Gerald Walpin isn't so sure.

Walpin is the lead attorney for Thomas Sypniewski, whose suspension and subsequent federal lawsuit started the litigation over the school's policy.

"I think that this is settled law," Walpin said. The school suspended Sypniewski after he wore a Jeff Foxworthy "redneck" T-shirt to school. Sypniewski appealed to the school board then took his fight to federal courts. He claimed the school's policy violated his First Amendment right to freedom of speech.

Walpin also disagreed that there is any discrepancy to be resolved.

The 10th Circuit's ruling is not in line with previous Supreme Court rulings, Walpin said. Any disagreement between the 10th and the third circuits are irrelevant, Walpin said.

Walpin said he may write a brief against the school's appeal. He will wait to read the school's writ of certiorari, the legal name for a Supreme Court appeal request, before deciding whether to argue against it, Walpin said.

Broscious plans to file his writ by the end of December. He did not know when he would hear from the Supreme Court.

Superintendent Peter Merluzzi could not be reached for comment.

Sypniewski declined to comment.

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This is what we have come to.....the SCOTUS will rule on a redneck t-shirt.

[Seruzawa]

If you like this.... you'll looove it after the Homeland Security Act passes.