9 Circuit Court Of Appeals: It’s A-OK For Schools To Restrict The American Flag So As Not To Offend

by William Teach | September 19, 2014 8:50 am

But of course. Can’t have legal American citizens waving and wearing the American flag and Offending Mexicans waving and wearing the Mexican flag on Cinco De Mayo, a mostly made up holiday celebrated in one tiny Mexican province, and only celebrated here in the U.S. in order to get drunk

(Daily Caller[1]) It’s official: the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has issued an order[2] declining a request for an en banc hearing in a case involving four students in at a California high school who were sent home for wearing American flag T-shirts on Cinco de Mayo.

The full slate of Ninth Circuit judges has thus agreed with a lower district court and with a trio of appellate judges that officials at Live Oak High School in Morgan Hill, Calif. could censor students who wanted to wear flag-emblazoned shirts.

The federal appeals court issued its denial of an en banc hearing on Sept. 17 — Constitution Day.

Most awesome! Denying the 1st Amendment on Constitution Day.

This issue goes back to May 2010, when several students wore American flag shirts, and the principal of the school told the students to either turn them inside out or go home because the shirts were “incendiary”. Nothing was said to any of the Mexican students flying the Mexican flag. The previous year, there was a verbal confrontation after a US flag was raised to counter the Mexican flag being flown. The 9th Circuit had ruled that it was OK to restrict the use of the American flag because of “potential violence”.

The practice of limiting one group’s free speech rights because that speech might cause another group to react violently is known as a “heckler’s veto.” It is understood by free speech enthusiasts to have a chilling effect on First Amendment rights.

Can’t have Mexican students offended, ya know.

(Fox News Latino[3]) William Becker, a lawyer representing the students called Wednesday’s decision “outrageous” and said he’d likely take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“(We) will not allow the politically correct judiciary to insult our flag,” he wrote in his blog.

But, in his blog[4], Becker said wearing an American flag to school is a symbol of patriotism, not aggression.

“The American flag is not a symbol of racism or division,” Becker said. “It is the symbol of freedom and unity. Americans have fought and died to protect that flag, and now we are told to conceal it so we don’t offend Mexican aliens, some of whom entered this country illegally.”

He also notes in his blog

Judge O’Scannlain’s excoriated his fellow judges in a searing dissenting opinion, stating:
The freedom of speech guaranteed by our Constitution is in greatest peril when the government may suppress speech simply because it is unpopular. For that reason, it is a foundational tenet of First Amendment law that the government cannot silence a speaker because of how an audience might react to the speech. It is this bedrock principle—known as the heckler’s veto doctrine—that the panel overlooks, condoning the suppression of free speech by some students because other students might have reacted violently.

Yeah, but some people were Offended, so, restriction of speech is required. This is Liberal World.

Crossed at Pirate’s Cove[5]. Follow me on Twitter @WilliamTeach[6].