March 06, 2007

Ninth Circuit : All Viewpoints Are Equal, but Some Viewpoints are More Equal than Others

The brilliant Eugene Volokh summarizes and comments:

Tyler Harper wore an anti-homosexuality T-shirt to school, apparently responding to a pro-gay-rights event put on at the school by the Gay-Straight Alliance at the school. On the front, the T-shirt said, "Be Ashamed, Our School Embraced What God Has Condemned," and on the back, it said "Homosexuality is Shameful." The principal insisted that Harper take off the T-shirt. Harper sued, claiming this violated his First Amendment rights.

Harper's speech is constitutionally unprotected, the Ninth Circuit just ruled today, in an opinion written by Judge Reinhardt and joined by Judge Thomas; Judge Kozinski dissented. According to the majority, "derogatory and injurious remarks directed at students' minority status such as race, religion, and sexual orientation" -- which essentially means expressions of viewpoints that are hostile to certain races, religions, and sexual orientations -- are simply unprotected by the First Amendment in K-12 schools. Such speech, Judge Reinhardt said, violates "the rights of other students" by constituting a "verbal assault[] that may destroy the self-esteem of our most vulnerable teenagers and interfere with their educational development."

Thankfully, the U.S. Supreme Court has vacated the Ninth Circuit's opinion, but I fear we'll be seeing more rulings like this. Read the rest of Volokh's commentary here.

By Ragnar Danneskjold, Typical Bitter Gun-Clinger at 11:39 AM | |