XPost: alt.freespeech, school.general, talk.politics.guns
XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, sac.politics

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/dad-sues-after-eighth-grade-son-is- forbidden-from-wearing-let-s-go-brandon-t-shirt-to-school/ar-AA1Ca1lQ

An Ohio 8th-grader’s father has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit
against his son’s teacher, principal, and school district after the boy
was asked to stop wearing a “Let’s Go Brandon” T-shirt to class — then got detention for ignoring the request, dismissing concerns as “not my
problem.”

The suit was filed March 26 in Cleveland federal court by Richard Conrad
on behalf of his son, who is identified in legal filings by his full name
and as “C.C.” It acknowledges that the teacher’s and principal’s actions
were “consistent with” the local school district’s Student Code of
Conduct. However, it also argues the code “provides no clarity” regarding
a pupil’s freedom of speech, and grants “broad discretion” on the issue to faculty members “without recourse or accountability.” (The Independent is withholding C.C.’s full name because he is a minor.)

The slogan, “Let’s Go Brandon,” is a thinly coded message used by
conservative Republicans and the broader MAGA movement to mean, “F**k Joe Biden.” It became an accidental meme of sorts in 2021, following NASCAR
driver Brandon Brown’s surprise win at the Talladega Motor Speedway in
Alabama that October.

As Brown sat for a post-race interview by NBC Sports reporter Kelli
Stavast, the hometown crowd began to chant, “F**k Joe Biden,” a mocking
phrase that had become popular at college football games throughout the southern United States. When Stavast remarked to Brown that it sounded
like the spectators were saying, “Let’s Go Brandon,” a new right-wing
insult was born.


(US District Court for the Northern District of Ohio)
(US District Court for the Northern District of Ohio)
Although Biden is no longer in office, C.C., who is more than a half-
decade shy of voting age, would “like to express his personal opinions, including wearing T-shirts with the content of the T-shirt he was punished
for wearing,” according to the lawsuit. “However, C.C.’s free speech is punished and chilled by the District’s punishment.”

The Supreme Court ruled in 1969 that students do not “shed their
constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the
schoolhouse gate.” However, these rights are not absolute in the context
of a school setting, and administrators are permitted to restrict speech
they see as disruptive, lewd, or obscene.

Attorney Josh Brown, who is representing C.C. in the case, told The
Independent that C.C. once again wore the “Let’s Go Brandon” shirt the day
the lawsuit was filed, and that he may be prohibited from joining his classmates to a local amusement park as a result. Brown said C.C. was
given an in-school suspension and that he “has been restricted to the
office since then.”

The Madison Local Schools Board of Education, five board members, the
principal of C.C.’s school, and one of his teachers, who are all named as defendants, did not respond to requests for comment.

The dispute dates back to November 25, 2024, when C.C. first wore his
“Let’s Go Brandon” T-shirt to school, beneath an unbuttoned flannel top, according to his complaint. While milling around in the hallway before
classes started for the day, one of C.C.’s teachers, Krista Ferini, saw
his T-shirt and said, “Button that up, I know what that means,” the
complaint states, adding that C.C. did as he was told.

A couple of periods later, C.C. had band practice and removed his flannel
shirt when the room became uncomfortably hot, the complaint goes on.
During lunch, the complaint says Ferini spotted C.C. in the “Let’s Go
Brandon” tee she had earlier asked him to cover up, and sent him to the principal’s office. There, the principal, Andrew Kepple, instructed C.C.
to wear his flannel for the rest of the day, and told him not to wear the “Let’s Go Brandon” shirt to school again, the complaint continues.

But, in late January 2025, C.C. wore the T-shirt again. During the break between fifth and sixth period, the complaint says Ferini waved C.C. over
as he was headed to math class, according to the complaint.

“Do you like offending people?” she asked, according to the complaint.

“That’s not my problem, nobody has to read my shirt,” C.C. replied, it
says.

Later that day, Kepple called C.C.’s father and told him his son had once
again violated the school’s dress code. If he continued to do so, C.C.
would face further disciplinary action, according to the complaint. In response, Richard Conrad asked to meet with Kepple in-person, and showed
up at the school with his own father, C.C.’s grandfather, to talk.

“Keeple [sic] said that ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ is ‘code’ for a vulgar
expression,” the complaint states.

“Conrad told Keeple [sic] that Conrad did not interpret it that way,” it
says. “Conrad ultimately told Keeple [sic] that he would not instruct C.C.
to refrain from wearing clothing communicating this content.”

On March 24, C.C. once again wore the “Let’s Go Brandon” T-shirt to
school, contrary to Kepple’s warning, according to the complaint. When
Ferini spotted it, she contacted Kepple, who summoned C.C. to his office,
the complaint states. Kepple told C.C. that he would be sent to after-
school detention for violating the rules, it says. C.C. was “punished”
twice more during March “for the content of his ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ T-
shirt,” according to the complaint, which alleges, without providing
specific examples, that the district “allow[s] many other different
expressions and speech on student’s clothing, at school, including
political speech.” (A detention slip filed in court as an exhibit displays
a February 2025 date; no explanation is given for the discrepancy.)

“C.C.’s expression did not and does not materially and substantially
interfere with the orderly conduct of educational activity,” the complaint concludes. “Defendants’ policy and practice give unbridled discretion to
school officials by permitting them to forbid messages that they
personally deem to be offensive and allow messages they personally do not
deem offensive.”

C.C. is now asking the court to issue an injunction prohibiting the school
from enforcing its dress code, to allow him to wear his anti-Biden T-
shirt, and to award him monetary damages in an amount to be determined by
a jury, plus attorneys’ fees.

The Independent is the world’s most free-thinking news brand, providing
global news, commentary and analysis for the independently-minded. We have grown a huge, global readership of independently minded individuals, who
value our trusted voice and commitment to positive change. Our mission,
making change happen, has never been as important as it is today.


--
November 5, 2024 - Congratulations President Donald Trump. We look
forward to America being great again.

The disease known as Kamala Harris has been effectively treated and
eradicated.

We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that
stupid people won't be offended.

Durham Report: The FBI has an integrity problem. It has none.

Thank you for cleaning up the disaster of the 2008-2017 Obama / Biden
fiasco, President Trump.

Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp. Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.

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