Fundamental rights can be restricted when student safety is compromised
Over the course of our common history, brave men and women of all racial groups--whites, blacks, Latinos, Asian and all other nationalities- have served in the armed forces and given their lives to protect our First Amendment rights of freedom of speech and to protest. We all cherish those two rights. The question is under what circumstances can those two fundamental rights be restricted? The federal courts have ruled that those rights are not absolute and can be restricted in a school setting to curtail threats of violence or disruption of school activities. That is what the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held when it affirmed a lower court ruling in Dariano vs. MHUSD that the administrators at Live Oak High School acted properly on May, 5, 2010. The court upheld a finding that administrative actions were motivated by concern over the safety of all Live Oak students when they requested four then enrolled students to remove or turn inside out clothing that had images of the American flag.
