Student's Pro-Life T-shirt Is Equivalent to the Swastika Says School Principal

Thomas More Law Center ^ | 01/27/03 | Thomas More Law Center

[That Subliminal Kid]

NEWS UPDATE

 

January 27, 2003

 

Student?s Pro-Life T-shirt Is Equivalent to the Swastika Says School Principal; Thomas More Law Center Enters Fray

 

ANN ARBOR, MI ? The mother of an honor student at Abington Junior High School in Pennsylvania was told by the principal that her son?s pro-life t-shirt was unacceptable school clothing because its message was the equivalent of the swastika.  The t-shirt displayed the messages, ?Abortion is Homicide.  You will not silence my message.  You will not mock my God.  You will stop killing my generation.  Rock for Life.?

 

This past November, the principal told the student to either cover the shirt or turn the shirt inside out.  After the student turned the shirt inside out, his mother contacted the principal and was told that the message was inappropriate to be displayed in school.  He said the shirt and message were the equivalent of a swastika being displayed on a shirt, which the principal would not allow in school.  The mother and son then contacted the Thomas More Law Center.

 

The Thomas More Law Center?s Associate Counsel Edward White sent a four-page demand letter to school officials explaining the student?s clearly established constitutional right to wear his pro-life clothing and demanding that the school take immediate action to provide written assurance that he will be permitted to wear his pro-life shirt to school.  The Law Center explained that the student?s speech did not cause any substantial and material disruptions to the workings of the school and that there was no legal basis on which to restrict his speech.  The Law Center also noted that the mother and son have the option of seeking relief in federal court should the school not change its decision.  The Law Center requested a response from the school officials by January 31, 2003.

 

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[CharacterCounts]

Everbody has an agenda.

Some admit it, others won't.

[Jeff Chandler]

Welcome to Abington Junior High School!

VISION STATEMENT

Abington Junior High School is a community where student growth toward life-long learning is fostered by a positive environment and a supportive faculty. We promote and encourage the individuality and diversity of our student population, and through the implementation of progressive strategies, we guide our students to become more capable and responsible. Our students, then, learn to nurture and to rely on their own strengths and interests. Equipped with technological and academic competencies, our students enter the future as knowledgeable citizens prepared to contribute and to excel in a changing and challenging world.


Don't you just love "Eduspeak"?

[elfman2]

His T-shirt is as over the top as the administrators analogy.

[Mmmike]

LOL! What counts is that the American Komsomols wear the correct clothing ;-)

[texson66]

This is MI, BTW

[Notwithstanding]

madg,


The TMLC is extremely successful at winning these claims either by settlement or by litigation.

Why you would heap criticism on one organization that is pushing back against the legal inroads made by the liberal communist libertine hippies (by hijacking the judiciary) is beyond me.

Go pick on the bad guys. Leave the good guys alone.

[Notwithstanding]

By the way, judging from your posts, you do not know the applicable law in this case at all. At all.

[Notwithstanding]

You are factually cahllenged ain all regards.

I have worked for the TMLC and know for a fact that they sue for vindication of rights, not money. When money is awarded, it is always an insignificant amount. Since the center is a non-profit charitable organization and does not charge its clients, it loses money on its litigation. When attorney fees are awarded, it never covers the actual costs of the attorneys and legal support staff. Occasionally a client gets a few thousand dollars as a token acknowledgement that its constitutional rights have been violated.

I know for a fact that the first aim is always to try to work it out without litigation.

[Notwithstanding]

...and therefore he should not be allowed to wear it????

[Notwithstanding]

You are factually challenged in all regards.

[Steve Eisenberg]

In my opinion, there are a minority of parents that get their kids dressed for school... as suicidal human "free speech" bombs.

I'm all for a dress code, but what if another child had worn an "Iraq -- It's All About Oil" T-Shirt? Would that have been made an issue over? Would that have been equated to a swastika, especially since Saddam has actually spoken quite favorably of Hitler? If the answer to both questions is yes, I agree with madg. However, I doubt this. Truth is, Abington is a liberal school district in which MANY college professors live. Some of their kids have surely showed up in "peace movement" attire. Unless the same was done to those kids, which I doubt, I'm all for the Thomas More people.

This year, allow all the T-Shirts. Next year, uniforms.

[calljack]

They either have a dress code or anything short of nudity or profanity on the tee shirt goes. Anything in between allows the administration to allow messages that they agree with and forbid those that they don't. Subtle indoctranation raises it's ugly tee-shirt.

[Notwithstanding]

Is madg a screen name for Vermont's Senator Leahy?

[BossLady]

Apparently, this principal is not very educated. If he was, then he would realize the link between Nazi Germnay and the woman who started Planned Parenthood.

[Notwithstanding]

How much money do you give to the democratic party each year?

[jwalsh07]

Front: Abortion is homicide

Back: You will not silence my message / You will not mock my God / You will stop killing my generation

[Notwithstanding]

I am certain that a student whose shirt read "War is homicide" and "stop killing the Iraqis" would not be harassed by any principal and that if she were so harassed, she would win in court.

[EdReform]

'Straight pride' allowed in school: Court prevents banning of teen's printed sweatshirt

"This is a tremendous victory for student free speech and a small step toward exposing the hypocrisy of the 'tolerance' agenda," commented Stephen M. Crampton, chief counsel for the law center. "When the politically correct invoke 'tolerance,' they usually mean tolerance only for those promoting deviant and socially destructive behaviors. The court recognized that true tolerance means tolerance of all, and not only a select few," Crampton said...

[F16Fighter]

This unprincipled principal has made a mockery of all Americans and who have died, or fallen at at the hands of Nazism during WWII.

"Censorship" for the Leftist NEA means never having to apologize for persecuting those who resist indoctrination.