ADF urges 9th Circuit to respect free speech after student punished for drawing

The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defending Freedom Legal Counsel Mathew Hoffmann regarding a proposed friend-of-the-court brief ADF attorneys filed Monday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit on behalf of the Douglass Leadership Institute in the case B.B. v. Capistrano Unified School District, in which a first grade student was punished by school officials for a drawing at school:

“Students don’t lose their First Amendment right to free speech when they walk into a school building. All Americans must remain free to speak, especially in our schools. As we explain in our brief, the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized that public schools serve as the nurseries of democracy. There, young students learn to interact with each other and discuss topics from all angles. They develop informed opinions, which advances our representative democracy. In this case, a first grade student drew a picture to make another child feel welcome; there was no ill intent, as affirmed by the student and the other student’s parents. Yet the young student was punished for the drawing simply because the principal found her message not to his liking. We are urging the 9th Circuit to reverse the district court’s ruling and to uphold respect for the speech of all students, not just viewpoints and ideas the government favors.”

The ADF Center for Academic Freedom is dedicated to protecting First Amendment and related freedoms for students and faculty so that everyone can freely participate in the marketplace of ideas without fear of government censorship.

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