Constitutional Law

Appeals Court Sides With School's Ban On Confederate Flag Clothing

In a narrowly crafted opinion, a federal appeals court upheld a Tennessee public school’s ban on students wearing clothing with the Confederate flag. The Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Barr v. Lafon concluded that school officials were justified in banning the divisive symbol. The appeals court said it found that the “school’s dress code as applied to ban the Confederate flag is constitutional because of the disruptive potential of the flag in a school where racial tension is high and serious racially motivated incidents, such as physical altercations or threats of violence, have occurred.” The appeals court cautioned in its Aug. 20 decision, however, “that our decision today does not establish a precedent justifying a school’s ban on student speech merely because other students find that speech offensive.”

In 2005, William Blount High School Principal Steven Lafon told an assembly of freshmen that “they would not be allowed to have Rebel flags or symbols of [the] Rebel flag on their clothing, or anything else that was a disruption to the school.” Lafon testified that the policy was aimed at curbing racial tensions at the Blount County school. For example, in spring 2005, the county’s deputy sheriff investigated racist graffiti in one of the school’s restrooms. One image included a drawing of a noose next to a Confederate flag.

Several students, intent on challenging the dress code, wore clothing with the flag. One student donned a T-shirt in fall 2005 bearing the Confederate flag, a picture of two dogs and the words “Guarding our Southern Heritage.” The students subsequently challenged the dress code ban as a violation of their free speech and other constitutional rights. Citing federal court precedent the Sixth Circuit found that “First Amendment standards applicable to student speech in public schools, however, are unique, and courts accord more weight in the school setting to the educational authority of the school in attending to all students’ psychological and developmental needs.”  

Full post as published by ACS Blog on August 21, 2008 (boomark / email).