Last week, Pete Palmer, the son of longtime friends, filed suit against the Waxahachie (TX) Independent School District for violating his First Amendment rights. Last September 21, Pete had the temerity to wear a "John Edwards '08" t-shirt to school. He refused to remove the shirt after school officials informed him that it violated the Student Code of Conduct. Apparently, the same Code of Conduct that would allow him to wear a Dallas Cowboys jersey does not allow him to express a presidential preference. (It would also allow him to wear a jersey from the Washington Redskins -- the Cowboys' hated rivals -- which might well have put him in physical danger. But I digress.)
Now, let's get real here. In my day, codes of conduct were all about long hair on boys and pant suits on girls. That a student would know who was even running for president before the conventions would have amazing in itself. Pete has probably already killed his chances of an invitation to Skull & Bones. Isn't that punishment enough? Moreover, does anyone seriously think he would have been kicked out of school for wearing an Operation Iraqi Freedom t-shirt?
Here's the press release from the Liberty Legal Institute announcing the lawsuit:
Waxahachie , TX- High school Sophomore Paul “Pete” Palmer is filing a lawsuit against the Waxahachie Independent School District (WISD) today for prohibiting him from wearing a John Edwards ’08 t-shirt and violating his right to free speech. Pete is an honor student and member of the WISD high school football team and plays tuba in the WISD high school band.
“It is disappointing for the District to censor a student’s support of a presidential candidate when we are suppose to be teaching our students to be involved in their communities and to be active citizens of this country, “ said Allyson Ho, lead attorney for Palmer and former domestic policy advisor for President Bush and now with Baker Botts.
Sophomore Palmer was suspended from class on Friday, September 21, 2007 after refusing to change his John Edwards ’08 t-shirt on a matter of principle. Pete’s teacher, Ms. Johnson and the Executive Director for Human Resources, Mr. Rick Rodriguez, told Pete his shirt violated WISD’s Student Code of Conduct. This Code of Conduct only allows students to wear clothing with messages that promote a WISD club, organization, or sport team or a college or university.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Morse v. Frederick last year that school officials may only prohibit students from engaging in religious or political speech only when that speech poses a substantial threat to school discipline. School administrators admitted to Pete Palmer that he was not suspended because the speech on his shirt was offensive, but because it contained “unapproved words.”
“It is shameful that Waxahachie ISD allows students to support college football teams but not a candidate for President,” said Hiram Sasser. Students have a constitutionally protected right to wear shirts with religious and political messages, even if some disagree with that message.”
After his suspension, Pete Palmer’s parents appealed the disciplinary action against him with the WISD Principal, Mr. Nix, the Superintendent and the School Board. All upheld the decision to ban the Edwards T-shirt.
The lawsuit filed against WISD today requests declaratory and injunctive relief that would prevent WISD officials from preventing or taking any action against Pete Palmer for wearing the John Edwards ‘o8 shirt.
The Liberty Legal Institute is a conservative foundation with the mission of "protecting religious freedoms and First Amendment rights." Why LLI and not, say, the ACLU? Pete's father has the story:
"I was solicited by this admittedly right wing group because this case is so clear cut [that] a ruling in it will help their other cases, which mostly involve religious speech in school. This is one of those instances where the libertarian instincts of the left intersect with the anti-government instincts of more or less honest conservatives. This group was the best fit because they were most focused on this issue and wanted to make this case the centerpiece of their legal efforts. Politically, it allows us to show the court (and potentially the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals) a broad spectrum of support -- a Bush official who clerked for Sandra Day O'Connor linked with a Libertarian-esque organization, two other big firm attorneys, and a lefty legal aid attorney. The ACLU was much less focused, has a lot of irons in the fire all across the state on a variety of issues, had fewer quality outside attorneys who were willing to aid them, and, frankly, pissed me off when I spoke to their legal committee. As an organization in Texas they are weak, underfunded, poorly managed, and have no established agenda."
A little background on Waxahachie High: "Waxahachie High also got some bad publicity 2 years ago for the Honor Society picture in the year book. Instead of finding out the name of an African-American girl they didn't know, the staff just listed her as 'Black Girl.' When the yearbook came out and she complained, folks just about pooped themselves trying to explain it away. For me it came down to this - why is the school so segregated that in a class of only about 300 the yearbook staff didn't know the name of one of the honors students? I told Pete that since Edwards was out, he needed to get an Obama shirt to wear, but he should just get one with a picture of Obama and the caption 'I Support Black Candidate.'"
Finally, guess what good ol' Waxahachie High's mascot is. Of course: The Indians.