The Chicago SunTimes had a great editorial last week about the Nequa Valley t-shirt case:
“Debate on public issues should be robust, uninhibited and wide-open,” Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote.
This is even true in schools, where free speech must be balanced against the goal of creating a safe environment for all kids. Officials at Neuqua Valley High School in Naperville chose between those two goals, a choice we believe is a false one.
Maintaining free speech is, in the end, a key ingredient in creating a nurturing environment for all students.
The courts have long agreed, saying students do not give up their free speech rights at the schoolhouse door.
Read the whole thing. Learn more about the ACLU's 2008 amicus brief in this case, which asked the court to balance both freedom of speech and freedom from discrimination, and concluded that the court should protect the right of students to wear their "be happy not gay" t-shirts in the manner that they sought.
