The Supreme Court has decided not to take up a case involving two middle school students who were told to remove their “Let’s Go Brandon” sweatshirts, and I’m sipping my coffee, thinking, “Well, that’s a interesting one.” The phrase, which became a euphemism for a rather…unseemly phrase about President Joe Biden, was deemed too much for the classroom by the school district. The students, who are brothers, wore the sweatshirts to school in 2022, and after being asked to take them off, their family sued, alleging violations of the First and Fourteenth Amendments.
I’m reading through this article, and I have to say, it’s quite the tale of free speech, schools, and the power of a well-placed euphemism. The Supreme Court’s decision not to hear the case leaves in place an appeals court decision that favored the school district. Now, I’m no lawyer, but it seems like the court is saying that schools have the right to regulate speech that might be disruptive or, you know, just plain rude.
The backstory on this phrase is pretty fascinating. It originated at a NASCAR race in 2021, where a crowd was chanting something rather…unseemly about President Biden, but a reporter interviewing a driver named Brandon Brown thought they were cheering him on. And thus, “Let’s Go Brandon” was born. The two students in question, who are in eighth and sixth grade, respectively, wore the sweatshirts to school, and, well, you can guess what happened next.
The school district argued that the phrase was essentially a sanitized version of something much more, shall we say, “colorful.” They even brought up some examples of other phrases or images that might seem innocuous at first but could be interpreted as, ahem, rather off-color. I’m not sure I agree with their examples, but I suppose that’s what makes this case so interesting.
The Supreme Court has previously ruled on cases involving free speech in schools, including the landmark Tinker v. Des Moines case, which established that students don’t lose their First Amendment rights when they enter school. However, there are exceptions to this rule, such as speech that disrupts the classroom or is just plain vulgar. The court has also ruled that schools can prohibit speech that’s lewd or offensive, even if it’s in “sanitized code.”
I’m also reading about another case the Supreme Court declined to hear, involving Dylann Roof, the man who shot and killed nine people at a historically Black church in Charleston. Roof was convicted of hate crimes and sentenced to death, and he’s been appealing his case ever since. His latest appeal argued that the trial court judge should have recused himself, but the Supreme Court declined to hear it.
As I finish my coffee and wrap up this article, I have to say that these cases are a reminder that free speech is a complex and nuanced issue, especially in schools. The Supreme Court’s decision not to hear the “Let’s Go Brandon” case might seem like a small thing, but it has implications for how schools regulate speech and how students express themselves. And who knows, maybe one day we’ll have a clearer answer on what constitutes “disruptive” speech in the classroom. Until then, I’ll just be over here, sipping my coffee and wondering what other interesting cases will come before the Supreme Court. 🙄
Armchair patriot. Believes in the free market, cold beer, and that there’s always a guy named George behind every CNN segment.
Former remote-throwing champion turned #1 couch commentator on liberal panic in the media. Born in Texas (or so his mug says), he earned a degree in Fake Newsology & Beer Philosophy from YouTube University.
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