judges needing organ harvesting -school censorship

Blank Frank BF at farc.org
Mon Mar 19 07:55:26 PST 2001


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.
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