Guiles v. Marineau
Encyclopedia
In Guiles v. Marineau, 461 F.3d 320 (2d. Cir. 2006), cert. denied by 127 S.Ct. 3054 (2007), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States protect the right of a student in the public schools to wear a shirt insulting the President of the United States
and depicting images relating to drugs and alcohol
.
, 372 U.S. 229, 235 (1963); Near v. Minnesota
, 283 U.S. 697, 707 (1931); Stromberg v. California
, 283 U.S. 359, 368 (1931).
in this case, a student at Williamstown Middle High School in Vermont, had worn a T-shirt displaying the name "George W. Bush
" and the words "Chicken-Hawk-In-Chief," underneath of which there was "a large picture of the President's face, wearing a helmet, superimposed on the body of a chicken." Alongside the picture of the President was a depiction of "three lines of cocaine
and a razor blade." The wings of the "chicken" were depicted holding a straw and an alcoholic beverage. At the bottom of and on the back of the T-shirt there was additional verbiage making fun of Bush and, among other things, accusing him of being addicted to cocaine. Depictions of Bush, cocaine and alcohol were also present on the sleeves. After plaintiff had worn this shirt several times over a period of weeks, another student complained to a teacher, but was informed that the shirt constituted political speech, protected by law. However, after receiving a complaint from a parent, the defendant
in the case, a school employee, asked the student to cover up the parts of the shirt pertaining to drugs and alcohol, or turn the shirt inside-out, or wear a different shirt, in accordance with the school system's dress code, which prohibits "any aspect of a" student's "appearance, which constitutes a real hazard to the health and safety of self and others or is otherwise distracting," (emphasis added) including "[c]lothing displaying alcohol, drugs, violence, obscenity, and racism."
The student refused, and after the student's father had the opportunity to speak with the superintendent
, the defendant school administrator completed a "discipline referral form" and sent the student home. After the student returned to school, he wore the T-shirt covered by duct tape (as required by the school), on top of which was written the word "censor
ed."
The student sued the school administrators (the student support specialist, the principal and the superintendent) in order to have the disciplinary referral expunged from his record, and to enjoin the school from enforcing the dress code policy against him. The district court
, applying the Supreme Court precedent set in Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser, held that the images depicted on the shirt were "plainly offensive or inappropriate" and that the school was therefore entitled to enforce its dress-code policy, but also ordered the expungement of the offense from the student's disciplinary record. Both the plaintiffs and the defendant appealed.
held that the T-shirt, in spite of its depiction of drugs and alcohol, was protected speech under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States.
In its decision, the court analyzed the facts in light of the following three Supreme Court cases: Tinker v. Des Moines Indep. Cmty. Sch. Dist., 393 U.S. 503 (1969), Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser, 478 U.S. 675 (1986) and Hazelwood Sch. Dist. v. Kuhlmeier, 484 U.S. 260 (1988).
In Tinker, the United States Supreme Court
held that a school may not ban students from wearing black armbands in protest of the Vietnam War
. The Tinker case thus stands for the proposition that "a student may 'express his opinions, even on controversial subjects . . . if he does so without materially and substantially interfer[ing] with the requirements of appropriate discipline in the operation of the school and without colliding with the rights of others,' Tinker 393 U.S. at 513 (alteration in original). The rule of Tinker has come to mean that a school may not regulate student expression unless the regulation may be 'justified by a showing that the student['s] [speech] would materially and substantially disrupt the work and discipline of the school.'"
In Fraser, however, the Supreme Court held that a school could discipline a student for making a speech at a public assembly that "is 'vulgar,' 'lewd,' 'indecent,' or 'plainly offensive.'" Fraser can be thought of as an exception to the general rule set forth in Tinker: student speech is generally protected under the Constitution, but the protection does not apply if the speech is "plainly offensive." Whether Guiles' T-shirt was plainly offensive or not was a question of first impression in the Second Circuit; in this case, considering an analogous decision in Frederick v. Morse, 439 F.3d 1114 (9th Cir. 2006), the court held that the T-shirt is not "plainly offensive," and therefore falls within the protection of the Constitution as interpreted in Tinker, rather than being subject to regulation in accordance with Fraser. [The holding in Frederick v. Morse was subsequently overruled by the Supreme Court, but this does not affect the precedential value of Guiles v. Marineau within the Second Circuit.]
In Hazelwood, the Supreme Court permitted schools to regulate the content of a school newspaper, on the grounds that there is a "distinction between school-sponsored speech and student speech.". The student's T-shirt was not school-sponsored, nor was there any appearance of sponsorship by the school, and therefore Hazelwood was inapplicable in this case.
Finally, the Guiles court held that the plaintiff's rights were violated even by the limited intervention of the school staff (who had given the plaintiff the choice of changing shirts, wearing the shirt inside out, or covering the depictions of drugs and alcohol). The court stated that "[t]he pictures" that the school administrators wanted the student to obscure "are an important part of the political message" that he "wished to convey, accentuating the anti-drug (and anti-Bush) message. By covering them defendants diluted" the student's "message, blunting its force and impact. Such censorship may be justified under Tinker only when the substantial disruption test is satisfied." As the student had worn the shirt on several days with no disruption to classroom activities, there are no grounds for the school to take any action against him.
Additionally, as noted above, one of the decisions that the court cited in this case has been subsequently overruled.
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
and depicting images relating to drugs and alcohol
Ethanol
Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid. It is a psychoactive drug and one of the oldest recreational drugs. Best known as the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, it is also used in thermometers, as a...
.
Overview
The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States prohibits Congress, among other things, from passing any law "abridging the freedom of speech." The Fourteenth Amendment likewise prohibits State governments from "depriv[ing] any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law." The courts have interpreted the "liberty" guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to encompass the freedom of speech protected by the First Amendment. See, e.g., Edwards v. South CarolinaEdwards v. South Carolina
Edwards v. South Carolina, 372 U.S. 229 , was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S...
, 372 U.S. 229, 235 (1963); Near v. Minnesota
Near v. Minnesota
Near v. Minnesota, 283 U.S. 697 , was a United States Supreme Court decision that recognized the freedom of the press by roundly rejecting prior restraints on publication, a principle that was applied to free speech generally in subsequent jurisprudence...
, 283 U.S. 697, 707 (1931); Stromberg v. California
Stromberg v. California
Stromberg v. California, 283 U.S. 359 was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court ruled 7-2 that a 1919 California statute banning red flags was unconstitutional because it violated the Fourteenth Amendment...
, 283 U.S. 359, 368 (1931).
Factual background
The plaintiffPlaintiff
A plaintiff , also known as a claimant or complainant, is the term used in some jurisdictions for the party who initiates a lawsuit before a court...
in this case, a student at Williamstown Middle High School in Vermont, had worn a T-shirt displaying the name "George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
" and the words "Chicken-Hawk-In-Chief," underneath of which there was "a large picture of the President's face, wearing a helmet, superimposed on the body of a chicken." Alongside the picture of the President was a depiction of "three lines of cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
and a razor blade." The wings of the "chicken" were depicted holding a straw and an alcoholic beverage. At the bottom of and on the back of the T-shirt there was additional verbiage making fun of Bush and, among other things, accusing him of being addicted to cocaine. Depictions of Bush, cocaine and alcohol were also present on the sleeves. After plaintiff had worn this shirt several times over a period of weeks, another student complained to a teacher, but was informed that the shirt constituted political speech, protected by law. However, after receiving a complaint from a parent, the defendant
Defendant
A defendant or defender is any party who is required to answer the complaint of a plaintiff or pursuer in a civil lawsuit before a court, or any party who has been formally charged or accused of violating a criminal statute...
in the case, a school employee, asked the student to cover up the parts of the shirt pertaining to drugs and alcohol, or turn the shirt inside-out, or wear a different shirt, in accordance with the school system's dress code, which prohibits "any aspect of a" student's "appearance, which constitutes a real hazard to the health and safety of self and others or is otherwise distracting," (emphasis added) including "[c]lothing displaying alcohol, drugs, violence, obscenity, and racism."
The student refused, and after the student's father had the opportunity to speak with the superintendent
Superintendent (education)
In education in the United States, a superintendent is an individual who has executive oversight and administration rights, usually within an educational entity or organization....
, the defendant school administrator completed a "discipline referral form" and sent the student home. After the student returned to school, he wore the T-shirt covered by duct tape (as required by the school), on top of which was written the word "censor
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
ed."
The student sued the school administrators (the student support specialist, the principal and the superintendent) in order to have the disciplinary referral expunged from his record, and to enjoin the school from enforcing the dress code policy against him. The district court
United States district court
The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of law, equity, and admiralty. There is a United States bankruptcy court associated with each United States...
, applying the Supreme Court precedent set in Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser, held that the images depicted on the shirt were "plainly offensive or inappropriate" and that the school was therefore entitled to enforce its dress-code policy, but also ordered the expungement of the offense from the student's disciplinary record. Both the plaintiffs and the defendant appealed.
The issue decided by the court
Can a school discipline a student for wearing a shirt that displays images of drugs and alcohol as part of a political message?The decision of the court
The court of appealsCourt of Appeals
A court of appeals is an appellate court generally.Court of Appeals may refer to:*Military Court of Appeals *Corte d'Assise d'Appello *Philippine Court of Appeals*High Court of Appeals of Turkey*United States courts of appeals...
held that the T-shirt, in spite of its depiction of drugs and alcohol, was protected speech under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States.
In its decision, the court analyzed the facts in light of the following three Supreme Court cases: Tinker v. Des Moines Indep. Cmty. Sch. Dist., 393 U.S. 503 (1969), Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser, 478 U.S. 675 (1986) and Hazelwood Sch. Dist. v. Kuhlmeier, 484 U.S. 260 (1988).
In Tinker, the United States Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
held that a school may not ban students from wearing black armbands in protest of the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. The Tinker case thus stands for the proposition that "a student may 'express his opinions, even on controversial subjects . . . if he does so without materially and substantially interfer[ing] with the requirements of appropriate discipline in the operation of the school and without colliding with the rights of others,' Tinker 393 U.S. at 513 (alteration in original). The rule of Tinker has come to mean that a school may not regulate student expression unless the regulation may be 'justified by a showing that the student['s] [speech] would materially and substantially disrupt the work and discipline of the school.'"
In Fraser, however, the Supreme Court held that a school could discipline a student for making a speech at a public assembly that "is 'vulgar,' 'lewd,' 'indecent,' or 'plainly offensive.'" Fraser can be thought of as an exception to the general rule set forth in Tinker: student speech is generally protected under the Constitution, but the protection does not apply if the speech is "plainly offensive." Whether Guiles' T-shirt was plainly offensive or not was a question of first impression in the Second Circuit; in this case, considering an analogous decision in Frederick v. Morse, 439 F.3d 1114 (9th Cir. 2006), the court held that the T-shirt is not "plainly offensive," and therefore falls within the protection of the Constitution as interpreted in Tinker, rather than being subject to regulation in accordance with Fraser. [The holding in Frederick v. Morse was subsequently overruled by the Supreme Court, but this does not affect the precedential value of Guiles v. Marineau within the Second Circuit.]
In Hazelwood, the Supreme Court permitted schools to regulate the content of a school newspaper, on the grounds that there is a "distinction between school-sponsored speech and student speech.". The student's T-shirt was not school-sponsored, nor was there any appearance of sponsorship by the school, and therefore Hazelwood was inapplicable in this case.
Finally, the Guiles court held that the plaintiff's rights were violated even by the limited intervention of the school staff (who had given the plaintiff the choice of changing shirts, wearing the shirt inside out, or covering the depictions of drugs and alcohol). The court stated that "[t]he pictures" that the school administrators wanted the student to obscure "are an important part of the political message" that he "wished to convey, accentuating the anti-drug (and anti-Bush) message. By covering them defendants diluted" the student's "message, blunting its force and impact. Such censorship may be justified under Tinker only when the substantial disruption test is satisfied." As the student had worn the shirt on several days with no disruption to classroom activities, there are no grounds for the school to take any action against him.
Applicability
This decision only applies to cases involving political speech by students in public schools. The judges in this case intentionally leave open the question of whether a school may prohibit clothing that carries a pro-drug message. Furthermore, the case does not apply to school-sponsored speech, nor does it apply to private schools.Additionally, as noted above, one of the decisions that the court cited in this case has been subsequently overruled.