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Stop the rainbows!
- Thread starter Matt J
- Start date
Miss Kitty
Meow
Good news on the removal, but $250,000? :shock: I agree she should have won that case, but once again I am reminded of two of my favorite words...
tort reform.
aleo...I saw your credit.
woodworker
Beach Lover
Good news on the removal, but $250,000? :shock: I agree she should have won that case, but once again I am reminded of two of my favorite words...
tort reform.
aleo...I saw your credit.
Do schools carry insurance for things like this? (Honestly, I don't know?) If so, I think their (our) rate just went up!
Alicia Leonard
SoWal Insider
Good news on the removal, but $250,000? :shock: I agree she should have won that case, but once again I am reminded of two of my favorite words...
tort reform.
aleo...I saw your credit.
Sorry guys. It's been over a year since I wrote about Heather. I believe, the orginial suit was for 250,000 by the ACLU for legal fees, but Heather requested and was awarded one dollar and the principal was removed.
She was later awarded 10,000 as a citizen award from a magazine for speaking up.
Below is the release on what the school ended up paying for the Rainbow debacle in legal fees
PANAMA CITY, FL – Federal Judge Richard Smoak has ordered Ponce de Leon High School to pay $325,000 in legal fees to the American Civil Liberties Union after ruling that the school violated student Heather Gilman’s Constitutional rights to free speech.
Many civil rights laws have provisions that entitle successful plaintiffs to recover attorneys’ fees. These provisions are designed to ensure that anyone whose constitutional rights have been violated has access to legal representation.
“We would hope that other school boards across Northwest Florida respect the rights of students to express themselves under the First Amendment to the Constitution,” said Benjamin James Stevenson, a staff attorney with the Northwest Florida Regional Office of the ACLU of Florida in Pensacola. “The attorney fees awarded in this classic First Amendment freedom of speech case underline the policy contained in federal law that those who choose to violate constitutional rights should be responsible for the costs necessary to right their wrongs.”
In May, after a two-day trial in which a Florida high-school principal testified that he believed that it was necessary to ban clothing and stickers featuring rainbows because they may lead students to imagine sex acts, Federal Judge Richard Smoak ruled that the school violated the First Amendment rights of students. The case was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of Heather Gillman who had been forbidden to wear any sort of clothing, stickers, buttons, or symbols to show her support of equal rights for gay people.
Judge Richard Smoak of the United States District Court, Northern District of Florida, Panama City Division, issued an order that requires the school to stop its unconstitutional censorship of students who express support for the fair and equal treatment of gay people. The judge also warned the district not to retaliate against students over the lawsuit.
Students approached the ACLU about a school atmosphere in which they cited routine intimidation by school officials for things like writing “gay pride” on their arms and notebooks or wearing rainbow-themed clothing. According to students, problems began in September of 2007 when a lesbian student tried to report to school officials that she was being harassed by other students. Instead of addressing the harassment, students say the school responded with intimidation, censorship, and suspensions.
During the trial, Ponce de Leon High School’s principal David Davis admitted under oath that the School Board had banned students from wearing any clothing or symbols supporting equal rights for gay people. Davis also testified that he believed rainbows were “sexually suggestive” and would make students unable to study because they would picture gay sex acts in their mind. The principal went on to admit that while he censored rainbows and gay pride messages, he allowed students to wear other symbols many find controversial, such as the Confederate flag.
The judge's 36-page order can be viewed at: http://www.aclufl.org/issues/lesbian_gay_rights/GillmanOpinion-072408.pdf
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NotDeadYet
Beach Fanatic
You gotta wonder how he came up with that idea.............
LuciferSam
Banned
:scratch: Hmmm! You know maybe he is an old school Floyd afficionado who is disillusioned by their crass commercialism after their more brilliant yet less accesible works such as Animals, Atom Heart Mother, and Meddle. Or maybe he's an originalist who never accepted the Floyd in the post-Syd era.:funn:
scooterbug44
SoWal Expert
When I think of items of apparel or decorations that make a HS student imagine "sexual acts" rainbows are pretty low on the list. Have you seen most of the clothes kids wear these days? Between the chest and jean cleavage and bra straps hanging out, I don't think they'd notice rainbows at all!
The fact that he banned rainbows, but allowed confederate flag apparel really sums it up for me! :angry:
The fact that he banned rainbows, but allowed confederate flag apparel really sums it up for me! :angry:
woodworker
Beach Lover
Did he really allow the confederate flag apparel? I watched that part a few times and couldn't tell if he banned it or not.
Seems the video was edited before and after that part - don't know if he finished what he was saying?
Maybe I missed it - dunno. Does anyone know if the confederate flag is banned in that school? (I'd venture to guess it's not.)
I'm glad that $250,000 of our money didn't go to this case, though. I guess we spent some money on legal representation though. (I'll have to read more above.)
Never mind! Just read it!
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beachmouse
Beach Fanatic
The news articles about the case were pretty consistent about the confederate flag clothing, and the school district never claimed that the reports were untrue.
Given the case law, (Tinker V. Des Moines) this was a mind-blowing slam dunk win for the plantiff on paper, and the school board should have offered settlement the first chance they could rather than letting it go further in the court system. They were going to lose, and better to have lost when they were only $50K out of pocket instead of $250K. Even if it was covered by insurance, their liability insurance premiums are probably going to significantly go up because of the suit.
Given the case law, (Tinker V. Des Moines) this was a mind-blowing slam dunk win for the plantiff on paper, and the school board should have offered settlement the first chance they could rather than letting it go further in the court system. They were going to lose, and better to have lost when they were only $50K out of pocket instead of $250K. Even if it was covered by insurance, their liability insurance premiums are probably going to significantly go up because of the suit.
