Teen's right to wear sweatshirt is restored
NEWPORT NEWS -- A Denbigh High School student prevented from wearing an anti-abortion sweatshirt in school last month by a school administrator now can wear it after a Michigan law center raised the possibility of a lawsuit.
An assistant principal told Daniel Goergen on Feb. 18 to remove the sweatshirt or turn it inside-out. Printed in white letters on the front of the black, hooded sweatshirt are the words "Abortion is homicide." The back reads "You will not silence my message / You will not mock my God / You will stop killing my generation."
"It was kind of irritating, it was bringing me down a little," Goergen said of the assistant principal's decision. "I respected (the assistant principal's) opinion and did what she said because she's an administrator. Then I got a lawyer to explain to her the right for me to wear it."
Many students at the school have shown support for his actions, he said.
In response to a letter from the Thomas More Law Center in Ann Arbor, Chief Deputy City Attorney Leonard Wallin sent a letter March 12 informing Goergen's lawyers that he could wear the sweatshirt at school.
Wallin, who represents the school division, said based on the details of the case presented to him, Goergen was within his rights to wear the sweatshirt. He added that these types of situations must be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
"The fundamental question is whether or not wearing some garment with a message on it is going to create a disturbance, an immediate disturbance," Wallin said. "If there isn't a reasonable belief that it's going to create a disturbance (school officials) can't ban the message even if they turn out to be wrong after the fact."
The law center requested a response from the school system by today, or else the Goergen family could file suit in federal court, according to its letter.
When he went to Denbigh High on Feb. 26 to ask why his son could not wear the sweatshirt, Martin Goergen said he was shown the derogatory written materials section of the student Rights and Responsibilities Handbook.
It says that any written material or pictures "that convey an offensive, racial, obscene, or sexually suggestive message" is prevented.
"Danny had worn that shirt (to school) for about 2 1/2 years," without incident, Martin Goergen said. "We were pleased that the school system responded (to Thomas More) in about 48 hours." Daniel Goergen wore the sweatshirt in school Tuesday without encountering problems, his father said.
The law center, a public interest law firm that defends Christian religious freedom, argued the school violated Daniel Goergen's constitutional rights. It based its argument on a 1969 case in which the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the rights of three students suspended from two Iowa public schools for wearing black armbands in protest of the Vietnam War, said Edward White, associate counsel for the law center.
The law center has an arrangement with Rock For Life - a pro-life youth organization that sells the black sweatshirt and other anti-abortion merchandise - to represent students and others free of charge who are challenged or harassed while wearing similar items. The law center is a non-profit organization.
"Whenever a student buys their merchandise, they get a letter from us defining their constitutional right to wear the (item) and to call us if they run into problems," he said.
Wallin said administrators aren't required to seek legal counsel before deciding to keep a student from wearing items.
http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/dp-77026sy0mar19,0,6762857,print.story?coll=dp-news-local-final
NEWPORT NEWS -- A Denbigh High School student prevented from wearing an anti-abortion sweatshirt in school last month by a school administrator now can wear it after a Michigan law center raised the possibility of a lawsuit.
An assistant principal told Daniel Goergen on Feb. 18 to remove the sweatshirt or turn it inside-out. Printed in white letters on the front of the black, hooded sweatshirt are the words "Abortion is homicide." The back reads "You will not silence my message / You will not mock my God / You will stop killing my generation."
"It was kind of irritating, it was bringing me down a little," Goergen said of the assistant principal's decision. "I respected (the assistant principal's) opinion and did what she said because she's an administrator. Then I got a lawyer to explain to her the right for me to wear it."
Many students at the school have shown support for his actions, he said.
In response to a letter from the Thomas More Law Center in Ann Arbor, Chief Deputy City Attorney Leonard Wallin sent a letter March 12 informing Goergen's lawyers that he could wear the sweatshirt at school.
Wallin, who represents the school division, said based on the details of the case presented to him, Goergen was within his rights to wear the sweatshirt. He added that these types of situations must be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
"The fundamental question is whether or not wearing some garment with a message on it is going to create a disturbance, an immediate disturbance," Wallin said. "If there isn't a reasonable belief that it's going to create a disturbance (school officials) can't ban the message even if they turn out to be wrong after the fact."
The law center requested a response from the school system by today, or else the Goergen family could file suit in federal court, according to its letter.
When he went to Denbigh High on Feb. 26 to ask why his son could not wear the sweatshirt, Martin Goergen said he was shown the derogatory written materials section of the student Rights and Responsibilities Handbook.
It says that any written material or pictures "that convey an offensive, racial, obscene, or sexually suggestive message" is prevented.
"Danny had worn that shirt (to school) for about 2 1/2 years," without incident, Martin Goergen said. "We were pleased that the school system responded (to Thomas More) in about 48 hours." Daniel Goergen wore the sweatshirt in school Tuesday without encountering problems, his father said.
The law center, a public interest law firm that defends Christian religious freedom, argued the school violated Daniel Goergen's constitutional rights. It based its argument on a 1969 case in which the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the rights of three students suspended from two Iowa public schools for wearing black armbands in protest of the Vietnam War, said Edward White, associate counsel for the law center.
The law center has an arrangement with Rock For Life - a pro-life youth organization that sells the black sweatshirt and other anti-abortion merchandise - to represent students and others free of charge who are challenged or harassed while wearing similar items. The law center is a non-profit organization.
"Whenever a student buys their merchandise, they get a letter from us defining their constitutional right to wear the (item) and to call us if they run into problems," he said.
Wallin said administrators aren't required to seek legal counsel before deciding to keep a student from wearing items.
http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/dp-77026sy0mar19,0,6762857,print.story?coll=dp-news-local-final
