Legal News

And the Political T-Shirt War of the Late 2000?s Rages On . . .

By Ashby Jones

Our favorite trial lawyer-turned-senator-turned-vice-presidential nominee-turned-presidential candidate, John Edwards, is back in the news today, in a big way.

According to a variety of news reports (including this one), Edwards is expected to admit that he is the father of the 18-month-old daughter of former mistress Rielle Hunter. The longtime Edwards aide Andrew Young initially claimed paternity, but according to reports, he’s now writing a book in which he’ll claim paternity. (Glad to know that will finally get cleared up. We’d been losing sleep.)

But the more pressing news, at least from where we sit, involves a separate case concerning Edwards — or at least his likeness.

A Fifth Circuit panel on Thursday upheld a Texas school district dress code that banned a student’s T-shirt supporting John Edwards’ presidential campaign. Click here for the AP story; here for the opinion.

Officials at the Waxahachie Independent School District prohibited Paul “Pete” Palmer from wearing the shirt to school in September 2007, when he was a sophomore. Palmer and his parents sued, alleging that the suburban Dallas school and district officials infringed on his constitutionally protected free-speech rights.

Last year, a federal judge in Dallas denied Palmer a court order that would have allowed him to wear shirts displaying political messages, including one emblazoned with “John Edwards for President ‘08,” to Waxahachie High School. But the Fifth Circuit found that the dress code was “content neutral” and intended to avert distractions from education.

“That’s absolutely stupid,” said Palmer’s father, Paul Palmer, of the button and bookbag distinction. “What’s the important educational objective that they’re pursuing with that policy? ”

The judges ruled that civil rights weren’t violated because students are free to wear what they want after school and may don buttons containing messages during school.

“It looks like the court has agreed with our legal position on all points and we’re very pleased,” said Bill Bednar, an attorney for the school district. “We feel that the law was quite well-settled and the 5th Circuit opinion merely confirms what had already been made clear.”

In any event, if any Con Law professors out there are still racing to come up with a topic for their “Special Topics in First Amendment Jurisprudence” course, to begin in just a few weeks, may we suggest the following: “Teachers, T-Shirts and Touchy Children: The First Amendment’s Latest Battlefield.” You could even refer to this WSJ article from last year as a jumping-off point.

What’s that? Oh. Sure. No problem. We’re happy to help.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on August 14, 2009 (boomark / email).