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ADF attorneys plan to appeal “extremely poor” ruling from 9th Circuit in Poway “T-shirt” case
Alliance Defense Fund ^ | Thursday, April 20, 2006 | ADF Media Relations

Posted on 04/21/2006 12:17:32 PM PDT by DogByte6RER

ADF attorneys plan to appeal “extremely poor” ruling from 9th Circuit in Poway “T-shirt” case

Thursday, April 20, 2006, 4:45 PM (MST)

ADF Media Relations | 480-444-0020

“The majority implied that Brokeback Mountain is in, and the Bible is out," said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Kevin Theriot.

School administrator to student: "Leave your faith in the car"

PASADENA, Calif. — Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund say they plan to appeal today’s ruling by two judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit who upheld a high school’s decision to prohibit a student from expressing his views regarding homosexual behavior on a T-shirt.

“Students do not give up their First Amendment rights at the schoolhouse door,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Kevin Theriot. “This panel has upheld school censorship of student expression if it is the Christian view of homosexual behavior. They have essentially determined that student quotation of Scripture can be prohibited. This case will proceed at the district court level, but we intend to appeal today’s extremely poor ruling to the full 9th Circuit.”

ADF attorneys represent Poway High School student Chase Harper, who was forbidden by school officials from wearing a T-shirt expressing his religious point of view on homosexual behavior. A school administrator told Harper to “leave his faith in the car” when his faith might offend others (www.telladf.org/news/story.aspx?cid=2746).

The decision today by the two-judge majority of a three-judge 9th Circuit panel upholds a lower court’s denial of a motion by ADF attorneys that asked for Poway High School’s policy regarding the T-shirt to be immediately halted while the case moves forward.

The third judge, Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski, vigorously dissented: “I have considerable difficulty with giving school authorities the power to decide that only one side of a controversial topic may be discussed in the school environment because the opposing point of view is too extreme or demeaning.... The fundamental problem with the majority’s approach is that it has no anchor anywhere in the record or in the law. It is entirely a judicial creation, hatched to deal with the situation before us, but likely to cause innumerable problems in the future.”

The two-judge majority criticized Kozinski, suggesting that the majority could rely upon the motion pictures Brokeback Mountain or The Matthew Shepard Story “as evidence of the harmful effects of anti-gay harassment....”

“The majority implied that Brokeback Mountain is in, and the Bible is out. What’s really broken here is the majority’s approach to the First Amendment,” Theriot observed.

“The court has manufactured new law in the area of student speech in saying students cannot say anything that school officials deem ‘demeaning’ to another,” Theriot explained. “This is the same court that ruled that parental rights stop at the schoolhouse gate and that ‘God’ should be removed from the Pledge of Allegiance. This case is not over.”

The opinion issued by the 9th Circuit in the case Harper v. Poway Unified School District can be read at www.telladf.org/UserDocs/HarperOpinion.pdf.

ADF is a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.

www.telladf.org


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Government; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; Philosophy; US: California
KEYWORDS: 9thcircuit; adf; antichristian; bias; brokebackmountain; dresscodes; harpervpoway; homosexualagenda; indoctrination; ruling; scotus; tshirt
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What an outrageous decision by these two judges on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals! It is bad enough that certain justices on the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) now cite and reference international law and the laws of dubious countries when interpreting the U.S. Constitution.

Now...we have these two clowns on the 9th Circus Court of Appeals citing Hollywood's propaganda film "Brokeback Mountain" in abjudicating this case from Poway. This is truly adding insult to injury.

We are truly staring down into the abyss and there is nothing to keep us from falling in.

The only bright side is that the 9th Circuit is the MOST frequently overturned appelate court in the nation. SCOTUS routinely overturns decisions meted out by this judicail abomination based in San Francisco.

1 posted on 04/21/2006 12:17:38 PM PDT by DogByte6RER
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To: DogByte6RER

If it were a teacher then it would have been academic freedom.. but not likely to carry the same message.


2 posted on 04/21/2006 12:21:01 PM PDT by street_lawyer (Conservative Defender of the Faith)
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To: DogByte6RER

What did the shirt say?


3 posted on 04/21/2006 12:21:43 PM PDT by ansel12
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To: DogByte6RER

So what did the t-shirt say/show?


4 posted on 04/21/2006 12:22:04 PM PDT by orionblamblam (I'm interested in science and preventing its corruption, so here I am.)
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To: DogByte6RER

So, which religions approve homosexuality?


5 posted on 04/21/2006 12:22:13 PM PDT by mtbopfuyn
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To: DogByte6RER

Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski,
U. S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Nominated by Ronald Reagan


6 posted on 04/21/2006 12:25:18 PM PDT by street_lawyer (Conservative Defender of the Faith)
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To: ansel12

During the 2004 homosexual "Day of Silence" promoted by his high school, Harper wore a black T-shirt on which he wrote in bold, capital letters: “I will not accept what God has condemned” and “Homosexuality is shameful 'Romans 1:27' ” on the back.

For more on the background of this go to:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/education/20060421-9999-7m21tshirt.html


7 posted on 04/21/2006 12:25:23 PM PDT by DogByte6RER (Other Bus 19 So-Cal exhibits.)
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To: DogByte6RER

Free speech for me, but not for thee!

The only acceptable free speech is that which liberals believe. If the shirt had said F*** BUSH (without the ***'s) it would have been perfectly fine.


8 posted on 04/21/2006 12:32:57 PM PDT by Personal Responsibility (Amnesia is a train of thought.)
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To: DogByte6RER

"“I will not accept what God has condemned” and “Homosexuality is shameful 'Romans 1:27' ” on the back."



Although I agree with the phrases, I think they don't belong in school.

I believe a school should forbid any distractions, from statement t-shirts and arm bands, to outlandish clothing and haircuts.

If a student body becomes mired in wearing competing, confrontational messages, then the school should have the right to go to uniforms.


9 posted on 04/21/2006 12:34:02 PM PDT by ansel12
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To: DogByte6RER
The majority opinion has lots of this sort of cr*p: "Those who administer our public educational institutions need not tolerate verbal assaults that may destroy the self-esteem of our most vulnerable teenagers and interfere with their educational development."

Boohoohoo. What about the vulnerability of other teenagers whose beliefs may be assaulted by homosexuality? They don't count. Homosexuals are a vulnerable, oppressed, victim, and therefore protected class, at least in the eyes of the 9th Circus.

10 posted on 04/21/2006 12:36:14 PM PDT by hsalaw
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To: DogByte6RER

The only religion that is free to be expressed in public schools is liberal secularism......


11 posted on 04/21/2006 12:44:12 PM PDT by Rummyfan
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To: ansel12
If a student body becomes mired in wearing competing, confrontational messages, then the school should have the right to go to uniforms.

In this case, where the young man was reacting to a homosexual "day of silence", the administration has preempted only one side of the argument. That's the problem.

12 posted on 04/21/2006 12:46:31 PM PDT by MortMan (Trains stop at train stations. On my desk is a workstation...)
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To: ansel12
I believe a school should forbid any distractions, from statement t-shirts and arm bands, to outlandish clothing and haircuts.

I agree. That's why - now that I am safely out of high school - I support school uniforms.

If I ever have kids, Catholic schools are looking pretty good right now.

13 posted on 04/21/2006 12:49:19 PM PDT by jude24 ("The Church is a harlot, but she is my mother." - St. Augustine)
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To: ansel12
The school should also not be "promoting" this Day of Silence. If they can have their say then why can't he? This is the school's fault, along with GLSEN, et. al. for even bringing this "project" to the schools.

Leave our kids alone, dammit!

From their web site(http://www.dayofsilence.org/) :

The Day of Silence®, a project of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN®) in collaboration with the United States Student Association (USSA), is a student-led day of action where those who support making anti-LGBT bullying and harassment unacceptable in schools take part in activities to recognize and protest the discrimination and harassment - in effect, the silencing - experienced by LGBT students and their allies.

14 posted on 04/21/2006 12:49:30 PM PDT by ItsForTheChildren
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To: MortMan; jude24; ItsForTheChildren

"In this case, where the young man was reacting to a homosexual "day of silence", the administration has preempted only one side of the argument. That's the problem."


While my post makes sense generally, it didn't in this specific case.

I didn't realize this was a response to a government obscenity.

The government had already stepped outside the boundaries of rationality by imposing a homosexual advocacy day.

The schools previous action calls for rebellion and demonstrations by all members of that community.

How this situation became about a t-shirt istead of the school administration is beyond me.


15 posted on 04/21/2006 12:59:19 PM PDT by ansel12
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To: DogByte6RER

If its not pro gay,it holds no sway!


16 posted on 04/21/2006 1:04:53 PM PDT by xarmydog
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To: MortMan
In this case, where the young man was reacting to a homosexual "day of silence", the administration has preempted only one side of the argument. That's the problem.

That's one of the points made in the dissent, that the school was promoting that viewpoint and in essence stifling any response. Since the school had had violence during the prior "day of silence," why didn't they just cancel it instead of repressing opposing viewpoints?

17 posted on 04/21/2006 1:06:55 PM PDT by hsalaw
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To: ansel12

I believe a school should forbid any distractions, from statement t-shirts and arm bands, to outlandish clothing and haircuts.

&&

I agree with you in principle, but this kid was reacting to the "Day of Silence" imposed upon him by his school, which apparently was promoting homosexual behavior.


18 posted on 04/21/2006 1:49:11 PM PDT by Bigg Red (Never trust Democrats with national security.)
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To: Bigg Red

I agree, Read post 15.


19 posted on 04/21/2006 1:52:56 PM PDT by ansel12
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To: DogByte6RER
I wonder what else these "judges" do in their spare time besides watching movies about culattonis.
20 posted on 04/21/2006 2:03:05 PM PDT by isrul
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