Details Emerge on Edwards T-Shirt Suspension

The mysterious post that showed up on the John Edwards campaign site last week turns out to have originated from Waxahachie, Texas, a city roughly 30 miles south of Dallas.

In it, the enraged parent of a Texas high school student described how his son had had been suspended for wearing an Edwards t-shirt to school — details were scarce, so we weren't sure what the grounds for suspension were. Some Austinist readers speculated that the school might have had blanket policies against wearing t-shirts in general; others were simply confused why Esquire magazine would run a cover with Edwards standing under a headline loudly advertising "The Sexiest Woman Alive".

But we digress.

According to FOX News — yes, we're citing them — Waxahachie High School sophomore Pete Palmer was temporarily kicked out of class after wearing the t-shirt in question. According to authorities, the district's dress code strictly prohibits clothing with any political slogans.

Palmer's parents, on the other hand, are pissed that their son's rights to free speech have been thwarted.

"It’s a First Amendment constitutional right that people have fought and died for," said Palmer's dad, Paul. "I don’t know why he should give it up just because Waxahachie thinks it would be okay or neat for him to do so."

Waxahachie ISD officials responded by saying, “It was an opportunity for us to continue to try and maintain a safe and orderly environment. The dress code gives us the tools to make a decision on what is right and what isn’t."

Contact the author of this article or email tips@austinist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Allen Y Chen in News on October 3, 2007 4:58 PM 0 Comments

Comments [rss]

lacoste polo shirts

Thanks for these wonderful icon! Will use
it sometime.

kantoka

I think the first comment was quite witty. Well said.

Susan Nunes

This is NOT a free speech issue; the parents involved need to get a clue. They will almost certainly lose in court if they are silly enough to pursue it.

Schools and students have the RIGHT to a learning environment free from distractions and divisiveness. Advertising and political slogans are generally banned from schools as a rule, to say nothing of clothing considered offensive.

Pete Palmer is to be commended for his interest in politics, but he needs to confine his politicking to after school and weekends.

tim

"Bong Hits for Jesus" wasn't protected because it wasn't political speech. They're going to have trouble with this one since it is political speech and not disruptive. Of course a lot of Texas schools look the other way and allow teacher lead prayer so it's not like they're necessarily going to listen to what the supreme court says.

Room 710

Room 710 suggests that the guests in this forum take a Bong Hit for Jesus. You know, in support of banishing the 1st Amendment.

guest

Can we sue the parents for wasting oxygen with their whining and trees with their lawsuit?

guest

But let me guess, if he walked into school and told everyone to "fuck off" he probably would have been in trouble with his parents right? I'm guessing his parents wouldn't tolerate that. Hello pot, meet kettle. Oh yeah, and they specifically have a rule that says they can't wear political clothing, hmmm....I bet they have a "don't bring a dun to school" rule too. I wonder how his parents feel about the 2nd amendment?