Constitutional Law

6th Circuit backs school's ban on Confederate flag garb

By By The Associated Press

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. ? A federal appeals court has upheld a district court's ruling that a school's ban on Confederate flag clothing was a reasonable attempt to prevent disruptions.

Tommy Defoe sued Anderson County school officials after he was sent home and then suspended for insubordination in 2006 for wearing a T-shirt and a belt buckle bearing the image of the Confederate battle flag. He said he wanted to display his pride in his Southern heritage. In court filings, he claimed school officials violated his First Amendment rights.

U.S. District Judge Tom Varlan in August 2009 threw out Defoe's suit. Yesterday, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati affirmed that decision in Defoe v. Spiva.

The 6th Circuit panel found that racial tensions and incidents at the school were such that banning displays of the Confederate flag was a reasonable way to prevent disruption and violence.

?We hold that the dress code?s provision banning displays of racially divisive symbols, and its application to the Confederate flag, is narrowly tailored to the state and school district?s substantial interest in educating students in the public school system,? Judge Eric Clay wrote for the 6th Circuit.

?A plainly reasonable interpretation of a Confederate flag T-shirt or jacket is one of racial hostility or contempt, regardless of the subjective intent of the wearer,? Judge John Rogers wrote in a concurring opinion.

Full post as published by First Amendment Center on November 18, 2010 (boomark / email).