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5th Circuit Disses John Edwards T-Shirt

By Robert J. Ambrogi

I presume Paul Palmer's parents thought they were taking a stand for free speech when they brought him the T-shirt that bore the slogan, "John Edwards for President '08." Palmer, then a sophomore at Waxahachie High School in Texas, had gone to school that morning with a different T-shirt, one that said simply, "San Diego." When the assistant principal told him his attire violated the school policy against wearing shirts with printed messages, he phoned home and his parents soon arrived with the Edwards shirt. You see where this going, right? The school said Palmer could not wear the Edwards shirt. So Palmer got another shirt. This one said "Freedom of Speech" on the front and had the text of the First Amendment on the back. When the school rejected that one, too, Palmer responded by suing the school for violating his freedom of speech under the First Amendment. When the trial court denied Palmer's request for a preliminary injunction against enforcement of the school's dress code, he appealed to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. As Tex Parte Blog reports, a three-judge panel of the court decided yesterday to uphold the trial court's denial of an injunction. The...

Full post as published by Legal Blog Watch on August 14, 2009 (boomark / email).