WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal regarding a school district's ban on sweatshirts bearing the phrase "Let’s Go Brandon" on October 5.

The students' mother purchased the sweatshirts for them as Christmas gifts in 2022. In 2022, a third student at Tri County Middle School was also asked to remove a sweatshirt with the phrase, indicating the school district had previously enforced its dress code against the message before the 2023 lawsuit.

The family filed a lawsuit in 2023 alleging violations of the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The family is represented by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. The school district was represented by lawyer Lisa Blatt.

A divided panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the school district. The appellate court ruled 2-1, with judges John Nalbandian and Karen Nelson Moore siding with the school, while a dissenting judge opposed the ruling. The lower court found that the phrase functions as a stand-in for profanity directed at former President Joe Biden.

Evidence indicated that some students wore clothing with messages such as Make America Great Again or supporting Donald Trump. The school district acknowledged that students had worn apparel with those messages and other political clothing without violating the dress code.

The students' attorneys argued that the lower court decision gives school officials excessive latitude to suppress political speech based on subjective views of vulgarity. The students' attorneys stated that the phrase does not contain swear words or sexual implications. The Supreme Court's decision leaves unresolved whether schools can censor non-disruptive political speech that is not plainly profane or lewd, according to the family's legal team.

The phrase originated in 2021 when a crowd at a NASCAR race chanted an obscenity directed at Joe Biden. A TV sports reporter misinterpreted the crowd's chant as cheering for driver Brandon Brown, who had just won the race.

On the same day, the Supreme Court also rejected an appeal from Dylann Roof, who was convicted of killing nine people in a Charleston church. Roof argued that US District Judge Richard Gergel should have recused himself from his trial due to alleged partiality.

Why It Matters

The Supreme Court's refusal to review the case maintains the appellate court's interpretation of student speech rights regarding politically charged language. By leaving the lower court ruling in place, the high court did not establish a national precedent on whether schools can regulate speech that acts as a proxy for profanity but lacks explicit vulgar terms.

The disagreement between the parties shows the tension between school authority to maintain decorum and student rights to political expression. The family's legal team contends the ruling allows for censorship based on subjective views, while the school district maintains that coded lewdness falls outside protected speech in an educational setting.

Timeline

The case involves two middle school students in Michigan who were ordered to remove sweatshirts with the phrase in 2022.

One student was in eighth grade and the other was in sixth grade at Tri County Middle School in Michigan at the time of the incident. A teacher and an assistant principal asked the students to remove the sweatshirts in separate encounters. The Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal regarding a school district's ban on sweatshirts bearing the phrase on October 5.

What's New

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 in favor of the school district, with judges John Nalbandian and Karen Nelson Moore siding with the school, while a dissenting judge opposed the ruling. The school district acknowledged that students had worn apparel with political messages without violating the dress code.

The Tri County School District's dress code explicitly prohibited messages or illustrations that are lewd, indecent, vulgar, or profane, as cited in the appellate court's opinion. The Supreme Court's decision leaves in place a lower court ruling that favored the school district. The school district's brief cited examples of coded lewd speech, including a t-shirt referencing the Access Hollywood tape and the number 69.