Maybe there's hope for OR after all.

The link has a photo of the shirt that was so offending.

https://www.oregonlive.com/was...target2box_targeted_

Student with banned Trump shirt to get apology, $25,000 from school district

Updated 4:01 PM; Posted 2:20 PM

Maxine Bernstein mbernstein@oregonian.com
The Oregonian/OregonLive

The principal of Liberty High School in Hillsboro has agreed to apologize to a student who was told to go home or cover up his "Donald J. Trump Border Wall Construction Co.'' shirt in January.

Addison Barnes, an 18-year-old senior, was suspended for wearing the shirt backing Trump's immigration and Homeland Security policies. He then sued the high school, the principal and the Hillsboro School District, arguing they violated his First Amendment rights.

In late May, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order, essentially barring the school for the remainder of the school year from enforcing its earlier decision prohibiting Barnes from wearing the shirt.

On Tuesday, Barnes' lawyers announced they reached a settlement with the district: Principal Greg Timmons will write a letter of apology and the district will pay $25,000 for Barnes' attorney fees.

"I brought this case to stand up for myself and other students who might be afraid to express their right-of-center views,'' Barnes said in a statement. "Everyone knows that if a student wears an anti-Trump shirt to school, the teachers won't think twice about it. But when I wore a pro-Trump shirt, I got suspended. That's not right.''

Barnes' lawyers said the message on the shirt wasn't the point of the case. High school students have the right to express their political views, they said.

"We brought the case to police the thought police,'' attorney Brad Benbrook said.

Hillsboro school district officials said Tuesday they were preparing a statement about the settlement and would release it later in the afternoon.

School officials had defended their actions in court, saying the shirt would contribute to a "hostile learning environment'' and would make students feel insecure in school, noting that about 33 percent of the high school's students are of Hispanic descent. They also said the school has been the site of recent student walkouts and sit-ins to protest Trump's immigration policies.

The district described increased racial tensions arising from racially charged language around immigration, school officials said.

But U.S. District Judge Michael W. Mosman found the school district couldn't justify its censorship. The judge said he balanced constitutionally protected speech with the orderly running of a school.

The school district is entitled to be concerned about the response of other students to the T-shirt, the judge said. But the "thin" court record offered little support for the district's argument that the shirt could "substantially disrupt'' the school, he said.



mbernstein@oregonian.com

More winning.

Principal Timmons should pay out of his own pocket. And if he can't control the walk-outs, he needs another line of work.

quote:

Originally posted by Sigmund:....
School officials had defended their actions in court, saying the shirt would contribute to a "hostile learning environment'' and would make students feel insecure in school, noting that about 33 percent of the high school's students are of Hispanic descent. They also said the school has been the site of recent student walkouts and sit-ins to protest Trump's immigration policies....

So anti-Trump walkouts and protests create a wholesome learning environment?

Seems educational diversity/tolerance/equality is a one-way street.

The shirt doesn't create a hostile learning environment any more than guns are violent.

It's the people. In this case, it's the school officials that are creating the hostile environment for conservative "right of center" students.

If hispanic students make a big deal of it, well guess what, it's the administration's duty to protect the conservative students, not suspend them.

A suburb or whacky Portland....so no big surprise.

“Liberty” High Shool...anyone else find themselves contemplating the multitude levels of irony embodied in that?

quote:

the school had been the site of recent student walkouts and sit-ins to protest Trump's immigration policies.

Depending on which foot the shoo is on, the First Amendment might or might not apply.

The school district seems to support the First Amendment if the shoe is on the left foot.

Another example of why public education needs to go away

good - may it be the first of many successful suits against the indoctrination centers

public schools are a pox on America

quote:

Originally posted by scoutrifleman:
“Liberty” High Shool...anyone else find themselves contemplating the multitude levels of irony embodied in that?

yup.

quote:

letter of apology and the district will pay $25,000 for Barnes' attorney fees.

They won’t learn anything if they only have to pay attorney fees. I would have made sure there was a substantial “pain and suffering” amount to boot. It would certainly help keep them in check the next time they try to stomp on someone’s rights.

Not enough individual consequences...

It cost the administrator nothing, for me this is the biggest problem. That $25k should be coming out of his pocket, not the taxpayers.