ADF Intervenes, School Gives Wearer of Pro-Life Sweatshirts 'Green Light'
by Jim Brown
November 4, 2005
(AgapePress) - - A Georgia high school has decided against censoring a student's pro-life expression on his clothing. Senior Brian Ramirez was recently forced to serve an in-school suspension for wearing sweatshirts with messages such as "Abortion is homicide" and "She is a child, not a choice." The student also was penalized with a zero grade for each day's lab missed while in suspension, and informed that for each day he continued to wear clothing bearing a pro-life message he would remain on suspension.
But after the Alliance Defense Fund intervened on his behalf and threatened to file a federal lawsuit against the school, Ramirez was allowed to wear the shirts without detention. His ADF attorney, David Cortman, says officials at Maxwell High School of Technology in Lawrenceville acknowledged their error -- promptly.
"It's always interesting to see how schools respond when they're called on the carpet on these things," Cortman says, "but the good part about the response [is that] it was very quick in coming -- it was pretty much immediately after we sent our letter."
According to the attorney, the school basically said while it has established policies that require no material to be obscene or offensive, Ramirez's sweatshirts did not violate any of those policies. Cortman adds that the school stated, in so many words -- "We were mistaken. We'll erase everything from your record." The lawyer believes the school was right to admit its mistake -- and to avoid possible allegations of maintaining a double standard.
"Whether it's done out of ignorance or whether it's done intentionally, the problem here is you have students in Brian's school who are wearing shirts promoting drugs, that are sexually suggestive -- and of course the administration never says anything about those," he says.
"But the minute someone stands up for life and has a T-shirt that someone may not agree with, they're the ones who are singled out and put into in-school suspension."
Cortman says schools should be educating their students about the First Amendment -- not violating it. "It should be clear by now that the First Amendment does not contain exemptions against unpopular speech," he adds.
Administrators had told Ramirez that the pro-life messages were offensive to certain teachers at the school.
Jim Brown, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
