Federal Court Upholds Suspension of Flag Doodler
While Congress wrangles over proposals to outlaw flag-burning, a federal
appeals court has ruled that merely *drawing* a flag in class can legally
be grounds for suspension under a school district's "zero-tolerance" hate
crime regulations.
T.J. West, a student at Derby Middle School in Derby, Kansas, received a
three-day suspension in May 1998 for drawing a Confederate flag in math
class.
School officials said the
drawing violated a school district policy that forbids students from
wearing or possessing
material that is "racially divisive or creates ill will or hatred." The
policy specifically lists the
Confederate flag as an example of such material. The district says it
created the policy to combat racial tensions.
The Rutherford Institute, a socially conservative legal organization, sued
the district on
the boy's behalf, claiming his First Amendment right to freedom of speech
had been violated.
In an unusual partnership, the Kansas ACLU joined The Rutherford Institute
in the suit, arguing that the policy "goes too far in giving school
officials authority over student
behavior."
In August 1998, U.S. District Senior Judge Wesley Brown dismissed the suit,
ruling that the school district had a right to suspend the boy.
In late March a three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals upheld that decision.
"While (the boy) may not have intended to harass anyone by drawing the
Confederate flag, it is clear to the court that he knowingly and
intentionally violated the policy against possession of such symbols at
school," the court said.
"Given the school's need to be able to impose disciplinary sanctions for a
wide range of unanticipated conduct disruptive of the educational process,
...school disciplinary rules need not be as detailed as a criminal code
which imposes criminal sanctions," the judges wrote.
(Source: Associated Press story, March 22, 2000)
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