School's Ban of Manson T-Shirt OK By Laurie Asseo Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - A former high school student says he had a free-speech right to wear Marilyn Manson T-shirts to class. But school officials banned them as offensive, and on Monday the student lost a Supreme Court appeal. The court, without comment, turned down the Ohio student's argument that school officials could not keep him from wearing T-shirts depicting Manson, a "shock rock" star who took his stage name from Marilyn Monroe and mass killer Charles Manson. Nicholas J. Boroff was a senior when he arrived at Van Wert High School in Van Wert, Ohio, in August 1997 wearing a Marilyn Manson T-shirt. Manson's real name is Brian Warner, and his group also is named Marilyn Manson. The front of the shirt depicted a three-faced Jesus and the back of the shirt said "believe" with the letters "lie" highlighted. A school administrator told Boroff the shirt was offensive and told him to either turn it inside out, go home and change, or leave and be considered truant. Boroff left, and returned each of the next four school days wearing other Marilyn Manson T-shirts. Each time he was told he could not attend class wearing the shirt. Boroff sued, saying school officials violated his constitutional rights to free speech and due process. A federal judge ruled for the school district, and the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed. School officials could ban the shirts because they were determined to be "vulgar, offensive and contrary to the educational mission of the school," the appeals court said, noting that school officials submitted evidence of the group's "pro-drug persona." Public schools can prohibit students from wearing shirts that are offensive, even if they are not obscene and have not caused a substantial disruption of the school program, the appeals court said. In the appeal acted on Monday, Boroff's lawyers said that while there was evidence that Manson had promoted drug use and Satanism, that did not mean school officials could ban students from wearing his name and picture. Lawyers for the school district said the group's song lyrics had racial epithets, obscene language and "exhortations to suicide and violence." The case is Boroff v. Van Wert City Board of Education, 00-1020. --- On the Net: For the appeals court ruling: http://www.uscourts.gov/links.html and click on 6th Circuit. AP-ES-03-19-01 1008EST © Copyright 2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Brought to you by the Tampa Bay Online Network