Is a MAGA hat the level of Tinker v. Des Moines?
MAGA hat outlawed?
I just saw this news story about a young lady who was told she could not wear a "Make America Great Again" hat in her high school. The link above the photo in green will take you to a video about the student and this situation in California.
Substantial Disruption
Regardless of how you feel about President Trump, this is a free speech issue and an issue that was dealt with in the Supreme Court in Tinker v. Des Moines. In that 1969 landmark case, Mary Beth Tinker and John Tinker were banned from wearing black colored peace armbands in protest of the Vietnam War. The High Court ruled the school could censure student speech IF it would cause a "substantial disruption" to learning.
If the student would get disciplined for it, she could appeal it. In the case of the young lady from California, I don't see how her wearing a #MAGA hat would cause a "substantial disruption" to the educational environment.
When I was in school
When I was in school, wearing any kind of hat was not allowed.Granted, I graduated from high school in 1989. At that time however, hats were not allowed in school. Since that time, things have changed quite a bit. With the advent of social media, student expression has taken on new life and new ways. As polarized as this country is, I think we will see more news stories like this one from California.
No comments:
Post a Comment