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After ACLU Intervention on Behalf of Student Wearing Anti-Bush T-shirt, Broward School Board Agrees to Amend Code of Conduct
For Immediate Release:
Friday, April 22, 2005
Media Contacts:
Miami: Alessandra Soler Meetze, ACLU of Florida, 305-576-2337 ext. 16
FT. LAUDERDALE – The School Board of Broward County has agreed to rewrite portions of the Code of Student Conduct to give students greater protection under the First Amendment, after the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida’s Broward Chapter stepped in to defend one student’s right to wear an anti-Bush t-shirt.
“The proposed language is one step closer toward creating an environment in public schools where students won’t be afraid to speak their minds for fear of offending others,” said Zeina N. Salam, Esq., co-chair of the Broward ACLU’s Legal Panel and a cooperating attorney on the case.
Justin Cambest, a senior at Nova High School, was forced on October 26, 2004 to remove his t-shirt with a picture of President Bush that reads, "International Terrorist" after a couple of students and a staff member at the school were offended by the shirt.
School administrators then gave him an ultimatum: remove the t-shirt, turn it inside out or face suspension. The school’s only justification was that the shirt was offensive, despite the fact that he had previously worn the shirt dozens of times without incident. Administrators cited Policy 5.8 of the Code of Student Conduct, which gave school officials the authority to ask any student to remove any article of clothing if “it is deemed offensive to others.”
“I realized that they were taking away my rights and I knew that if I didn’t stand up for my freedom of speech, it would just escalate and they would continue to get away with it,” said Justin, 18, whose teacher chastised him in front of his classmates for wearing the shirt.
Justin reluctantly decided to turn the t-shirt inside out rather than face suspension. But, he reminded school officials that they didn’t have the right to do so because there was an almost identical case in Michigan where a judge ruled in favor of a student who was prohibited from wearing the same t-shirt. In that case, the Michigan ACLU filed a lawsuit against Dearborn Public Schools for violating the First Amendment rights of the student.
Justin then contacted the ACLU of Florida’s Broward Chapter. ACLU Cooperating attorneys wrote a letter on December 10, 2004, demanding that Justin be allowed to wear the shirt and that school administrators expunge the dress code violation he received for wearing the anti-Bush t-shirt. The letter also asked school officials to revamp some of the language in the Code of Student Conduct so that students have the right to wear clothing of their choice as long as it doesn’t “create a substantial and material disruption of the school.” The code previously prohibited students from wearing clothing that could “distract or offend others.”
“The courts have ruled time and time again that it’s unconstitutional for school officials to censor a student’s political speech simply because they disagree with those views,” added Salam.
In a letter dated February 9, the School Board of Broward County agreed to allow Justin to wear the shirt and expunge the dress code violation from his school record. In addition, it later adopted on first reading the ACLU’s recommendations and agreed to revise Policy 5.8 of the school code to give students greater protection under the First Amendment.
The board will meet for a final reading on the proposed change to Policy 5.8 of the 2005-2006 Code of Student Conduct at 10:15 a.m. April 26 in the board room of the Kathleen C. Wright Administration Center, 600 Southeast Third Avenue, in Fort Lauderdale.
In addition to Salam, ACLU of Florida cooperating attorney John J. Richardson also represented Justin.
Click here to read the ACLU’s December 10, 2004 letter to the School Board.
