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Portfolio Assignment 4

CODY KOSLOWSKI

College of Southern Nevada

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A high school in northeastern United States had implemented a ban on things gang

related including emblems, earrings, and athletic caps. The school had put this rule in place

because at this certain high school gangs were prevalent. The big dilemma from this is that a

student named Bill Foster wore an earring to school and was suspended for it. But was his

suspension legitimate and were his rights violated.

First, I’m going to present the side where his freedom of expression rights were violated.

To start off this argument, I’m going to begin by talking what is considered to be gang related.

So, as it has been stated the reason the school put these bans on “gang related” items and

clothing is because this school has gangs within in it. Personally to me, I do not consider jewelry

or earrings to be considered gang related at all. As long as the earring was just a regular colored

diamond it isn’t related to gangs at all. In the past you have never heard of someone that wears

earrings are in a gang and I believe that this student being suspended for it is really unfair. And

as the first amendment states “The First Amendment guarantees freedoms concerning religion,

expression, assembly, and the right to petition. It forbids Congress from both promoting one

religion over others and also restricting an individual’s religious practices.” In this case the

student was expressing his right of expression that is indeed protected by the first amendment.

Another argument that is for the student to not get suspended is the kind of student Bill

Foster was. As it was stated this student was not affiliated with any of the gangs in this school so

for that he should’ve just received a warning and not get suspended for just trying to impress a

couple of girls. A court case to support the student not getting suspended is the case of Tinker v.

Des Moines Independent School District. “The Supreme Court sided with the students. Students

and teachers don't "shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the
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schoolhouse gate," (Jacobs, 2008, New York Times). This court case is important because the

ruling did support students to express their first amendment rights and it applies to Bill because

he was just expressing his rights by wearing an earring not for a gang but to impress girls.

Now to argue in favor for the school to suspend the student for violating their rules

against gang related items and in this case is him wearing earrings. To start the school had a

legitimate reason to suspend the student for violating a rule that was implemented to every

student. Some people argue that this violates the first amendment rights of the students, but a

article I read stated “Yes. The First Amendment applies to all levels of government, including

public schools. Although the courts have permitted school officials to limit the rights of students

under some circumstances, the courts have also recognized that students — like all citizens —

are guaranteed the rights protected by the First Amendment.” So to me this ends the argument of

this whole thing because it states that the school has the right to suspend this student for violating

a rule they implemented.

The student was understanding of the rule against wearing earrings and other things that

were technically gang related by the school. This student tried to express his first amendment

right but in public school the school has to take away some of that right to contain problems in

schools. A court case that supports the schools in this way is the case Bethel School District No.

403 v. Fraser. The outcome of this case was in favor of the school for limiting the speech of this

student, which essentially gives the schools power to limit students first amendment right to keep

the school in order.

The battle between schools and students’ rights have been going on for years and I

believe that it will never end because it is hard to determine what is too much. In this specific

case picking a side for me was easy. I believe that the jury or judge will decide that his first
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amendment right is not protected and that his suspension will be valid and non-arguable. I think

this because of the court case of Fraser stated that the school can violate a student’s freedom of

expression if it is for the better of school order and its students.

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References

https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/first_amendment

https://www.freedomforuminstitute.org/about/faq/does-the-first-amendment-apply-to-public-

schools/

https://education.findlaw.com/student-rights/free-speech-lawsuits-involving-public-schools.html