{"id":1536046,"date":"2025-05-14T18:05:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-14T22:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1536046"},"modified":"2025-05-14T18:05:00","modified_gmt":"2025-05-14T22:05:00","slug":"federal-judge-rules-against-student-who-wore-a-lets-go-brandon-shirt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/federal-judge-rules-against-student-who-wore-a-lets-go-brandon-shirt\/1536046\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal Judge Rules Against Student Who Wore A “Let’s Go Brandon” Shirt"},"content":{"rendered":"

Federal Judge Rules Against Student Who Wore A “Let’s Go Brandon” Shirt<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Authored by Jonathan Turley,<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

We\u00a0previously<\/a>\u00a0discussed how schools were making students remove sweatshirts reading \u201cLet\u2019s Go Brandon.\u201d<\/p>\n

I have argued that the shirts should be treated as protected speech.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

However, United States District Court Judge Christopher Boyko just delivered another blow to free speech in\u00a0rejecting<\/a>\u00a0a claim for such protection,<\/strong> at least as the basis for injunctive relief, in\u00a0\u00a0Conrad v. Madison Local School Dist\u2014Bd. of Ed.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

In the prior Michigan case with the sweater shown below, Judge Paul Maloney in\u00a0D.A. v. Tri County Area Schools\u00a0<\/em><\/a>(W.D. Mich.) ruled that a \u201cLet\u2019s Go Brandon\u201d T-shirt could be the basis for punishment:<\/p>\n

A school can certainly prohibit students from wearing a shirt displaying the phrase F*** Joe Biden. Plaintiffs concede this conclusion. Plaintiff must make this concession as the Supreme Court said as much in\u00a0Fraser \u2026\u00a0(\u201cAs cogently expressed by Judge Newman, \u2018the First Amendment gives a high school student the classroom right to wear Tinker\u2019s armband, but not Cohen\u2019s jacket [which read {F*** the Draft}].’\u201d) The relevant four-letter word is a swear word and would be considered vulgar and profane. The Sixth Circuit has written that \u201cit has long been held that despite the sanctity of the First Amendment, speech that is vulgar or profane is not entitled to absolute constitutional protection.\u201d \u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

If schools can prohibit students from wearing apparel that contains profanity, schools can also prohibit students from wearing apparel that can reasonably be interpreted as profane.<\/strong> Removing a few letters from the profane word or replacing letters with symbols would not render the message acceptable in a school setting. School administrators could prohibit a shirt that reads \u201cF#%* Joe Biden.\u201d School officials have restricted student from wearing shirts that use homophones for profane words \u2026 [such as] \u201cSomebody Went to HOOVER DAM And All I Got Was This \u2018DAM\u2019 Shirt.\u201d \u2026 [Defendants] recalled speaking to one student who was wearing a hat that said \u201cFet\u2019s Luck\u201d \u2026 [and asking] a student to change out of a hoodie that displayed the words \u201cUranus Liquor\u201d because the message was lewd. School officials could likely prohibit students from wearing concert shirts from the music duo LMFAO (Laughing My F***ing A** Off) or apparel displaying \u201cAITA?\u201d (Am I the A**hole?)\u2026. Courts too have recognized how seemingly innocuous phrases may convey profane messages. A county court in San Diego, California referred an attorney to the State Bar when counsel, during a hearing, twice directed the phrase \u201cSee You Next Tuesday\u201d toward two female attorneys.<\/em><\/p>\n

Again, I strongly disagreed with that decision. However, it has now been replicated in Ohio.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In his complaint, C.C. details how he was wearing a shirt with the phrase \u201cLet\u2019s Go Brandon\u201d on November 25, 2024, underneath a flannel shirt.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He alleges that teacher (and registered Democrat)\u00a0 Krista Ferini was bothered after spotting the shirt and ordered him to \u201cbutton that up. I know what that means.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

C.C. did so, but later, he was in a classroom that lacked air conditioning, so he took off his flannel shirt. That is when allegedly Ferini proceeded to write him up for the infraction. Principal Andrew Keeple then instructed C.C. to wear the flannel the rest of the day and never to wear the shirt to school again.<\/p>\n

C.C. defied that order and wore the shirt again in January of 2025.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

While no one else complained, Ferini was reportedly irate and again wrote up C.C.\u00a0 Keeple declared that C.C. had once again violated the school\u2019s dress code and that the shirt constituted a vulgar expression even though it contained no vulgar terms. He stated that further discipline would follow if C.C. continued to wear the shirt.<\/p>\n

On March 24, 2025, C.C. wore the t-shirt again.<\/p>\n

While no one complained,\u00a0 he received a detention from Keeple.\u00a0 C.C. was disciplined on two other occasions for wearing the shirt.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The court ruled:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile this case presents serious questions of student free speech versus a school\u2019s interest in protecting students from vulgar and profane speech,<\/strong> the Court finds Plaintiff has not met his high burden to show a substantial likelihood of success on the merits by clear and convincing evidence. While the\u00a0D.A.\u00a0case was on summary judgment and presented facts that are different than those before this Court, Defendant\u2019s burden on summary judgment was a preponderance standard which is a lesser burden than Plaintiff\u2019s here. Moreover, that case presented fact issues going to the reasonableness of the school\u2019s interpretation. Here, as Defendants point out, Plaintiff acknowledges in his Verified Complaint that \u201cLet\u2019s Go Brandon\u201d is a euphemism for F*#% Joe Biden.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIn school speech cases where a school limits or restricts a student\u2019s expression, courts must determine whether the school\u2019s interpretation of the expression is reasonable.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe student\u2019s expression must be considered in the proper context but the student\u2019s motivation or subjective intent is irrelevant.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Given the strong interests of both sides, the unique characteristics of speech in a school setting, the finding by at least one court in this circuit that the school\u2019s interpretation of the phrase as vulgar was reasonable, and the acknowledgment in this case by Plaintiff that the phrase is a vulgar euphemism,<\/strong> the Court finds Plaintiff has not shown a substantial likelihood of success on the merits to support injunctive relief. This does not mean Plaintiff cannot win on the merits of the claim as discovery will likely provide clearer evidence on the reasonableness of the interpretation. But given the high standard for injunctive relief, the Court finds against Plaintiff\u2026.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s Go Brandon!\u201d has become a similarly unintended political battle cry not just against Biden but also against the bias of the media. It derives from an Oct. 2 interview with race-car driver\u00a0Brandon Brown<\/a>\u00a0after he won his first NASCAR Xfinity Series race. During the interview, NBC reporter Kelli Stavast\u2019s questions were drowned out by loud-and-clear chants of \u201cF*** Joe Biden.\u201d Stavast quickly and inexplicably declared, \u201cYou can hear the chants from the crowd, \u2018Let\u2019s go, Brandon!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s Go Brandon!\u201d instantly became a type of\u00a0\u201cYankee Doodling\u201d of the political and media establishment.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

This teacher was clearly put out over the political messaging of the shirt. However, we should encourage students to be politically aware and expressive. Moreover, if schools are allowed to extrapolate profane meaning from non-profane language, it is hard to see the limits on such censorship.<\/p>\n

So what if students now wear \u201cLet\u2019s Go Krista\u201d shirts? How many degrees of removal will negate the profane imputation. Does that mean that the use of \u201clet\u2019s go\u201d in any shirt is now prohibited?<\/p>\n

C.C. and his family should continue to litigate and, if necessary, appeal this worthy case in the interests of free speech for all students.<\/strong><\/p>\n

*\u00a0 *\u00a0 *<\/p>\n

Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro professor of public interest law at George Washington University and the author of \u201c<\/em>The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage<\/em><\/a>.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nWed, 05\/14\/2025 – 14:05<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bhttps:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/political\/federal-judge-rules-against-student-who-wore-lets-go-brandon-shirt<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Federal Judge Rules Against Student Who Wore A “Let’s Go Brandon” Shirt Authored by Jonathan Turley, We\u00a0previously\u00a0discussed how schools were making students remove sweatshirts reading…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1536047,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1536046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbimBl-6rAW","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2023-04-26-at-6.42.30-PWsR2D.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1536046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1536046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1536046\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1536047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1536046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1536046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1536046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}