Amicus Brief: B.A. v. Tri County Area Schools

In the spring of 2022, two brothers attending Tri County Middle School in Michigan on separate occasions wore sweatshirts bearing the phrase “Let’s Go Brandon” that they had received for Christmas. School administrators ordered the students to remove these sweatshirts and admonished the brothers not to wear them to school again. It is undisputed the students were respectful and that the sweatshirts did not any cause disruption in or out of school. The ban on “Let’s Go Brandon” apparel remains in effect at Tri County High School, where the boys are now students. 

Represented by FIRE, the boys and their family sued to challenge the district’s ban. This past August, a federal district court upheld the school’s censorship of its students’ political speech pursuant to the school’s policy against “lewd, indecent, vulgar, or profane” expression. In essence, the district court held that wearing a “Let’s Go Brandon” shirt is legally indistinguishable from wearing a “Fuck Joe Biden” shirt. In appellants’ view, that can’t be right. It would mean “heck” is treated the same as “hell,” so too for darn/damn, shoot/shit, etc. But sanitized expressions are a time-tested way to make messages appropriate for minors (think radio edits of songs, TV edits of movies, etc.).

The Manhattan Institute has now filed a brief supporting the brothers’ appeal to the Sixth Circuit. We show how courts nationwide regularly protect the speech of public-school students, including those below the high school level—with restrictions limited to speech that disrupts school activities. We also explain that the freedom of speech provides significant pedagogical benefits to young students, including the cultivation of critical thinking skills and teacher engagement, as well as helping with their growth as young citizens.

Ilya Shapiro is a senior fellow and director of Constitutional Studies at the Manhattan Institute. Follow him on Twitter here.

Tim Rosenberger is a legal fellow at the Manhattan Institute.

With thanks to law school associate Tyler Cochran.