U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Upholds Ban On U.S. Flag Shirts

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Rights: A Ninth Circuit Court ruling that students can't wear American flag T-shirts because they may offend Mexican students celebrating Cinco de Mayo is a ridiculous yet dangerous assault on the First Amendment.

On Sept. 17, more than four years after Live Oak High School in Morgan Hill, Calif., sent students home for wearing American flag t-shirts, an 11-judge Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled that it was the right choice, "tailored to avert violence and focused on student safety."

The decision upheld the court's three-judge ruling in February that justified the school's actions based on tensions between Mexican and American students. Past events, Judge M. Margaret McKeown wrote, "made it reasonable for school officials to proceed as though the threat of a potentially violent disturbance was real."

We are not making up this surreal situation. Oh, yeah, the incident occurred on Cinco de Mayo, which celebrates the defeat of the French army of Napoleon III by Mexican forces in the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862.

It's often mistaken as Mexico's independence day and is actually celebrated more in the U.S. than in Mexico.

The shirts offended Mexican students who, the Ninth Circuit ruling states, responded by shouting, "They are being racist. F*** them white boys. Let's f*** them up."

According to the court, the wearing of an American flag t-shirt on Cinco de Mayo was the functional equivalent of yelling "fire" in a crowded theater.

William Becker, a lawyer for the students, has said that he'll take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. "The 9th Circuit upheld the rights of Mexican students celebrating the holiday of another country over U.S. students proudly supporting this country," he said.

The ruling sets a chilling precedent that "by threatening violence against those with whom you disagree, you can enlist the power of the state to silence them," wrote Judge Diarmuid O'Scannlain in a dissent.

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