First Amendment For Me But Not For Thee
The irony of this story is just toe-curling:
Sounds pretty standard for this day and age of intolerent left-wing dominance of the academy and public education, doesn't it? But that's not the money shot:
One has to marvel at just how blatant the left's biases, and their fanatical willingness to impose them so openly and recklessly, has become. Mr. Bowler's story is, in that contemporary sense, eminently describable as "all-American":
There's no indication mentioned of why the club's posters were considered "anti-gay"; most likely that was an oblique reference to a defense of traditional marriage. But the "promotion of violence part" is specified, and is just as stiltedly flimsy:
Got that? Referring to a conservative website that, in turn, refers to the medieval, barbarous tactics of our enemies in the GWOT is, somehow, akin to "promoting" them. Apparently the same operative principle behind the Extreme Media's adamant refusal to show any 9/11 images - you know, to "spare public sensibilities" and "avoid inflaming anti-Muslim bias." Meanwhile, I'd wager a week's pay that liberal student clubs put up posters touting the "torture" at Abu Ghraib and "Bush lied/kids died" and the rest of the usual lineup of "anti-war" blood mendacities without the selectively worry-warting educrats giving them a second glance.
Given where Mr. Bowler lives and where this suit has been filed, I would be surprised if it manages not to get summarily dismissed. But if nothing else, he will end up as another...well, "martyr" for the cause, and perhaps a poster boy for the need to restore the federal judiciary to the role the Founding Fathers intended it to fulfill.
I'd love to see the posters they're putting up 'round campus now.
Attorneys for The Rutherford Institute have filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Eastern Division of Massachusetts in defense of the First Amendment rights of a high school student whose promotional posters for an extracurricular club were removed and censored by school officials because of their conservative political viewpoint.
Sounds pretty standard for this day and age of intolerent left-wing dominance of the academy and public education, doesn't it? But that's not the money shot:
In their complaint, Institute attorneys charge that by censoring Christopher Bowler’s Conservative Club posters, officials at Hudson High School in Hudson, Massachusetts — one of only eleven pilot schools in the U.S. that participate in the "First Amendment Schools” program — violated Bowler’s First Amendment right to free speech and expression and discriminated against him and the Conservative Club on the basis of the club’s political viewpoint. [my emphasis]
One has to marvel at just how blatant the left's biases, and their fanatical willingness to impose them so openly and recklessly, has become. Mr. Bowler's story is, in that contemporary sense, eminently describable as "all-American":
Responding to what they perceived as a persistent anti-Bush, anti-conservative environment at Hudson High School during their junior year in high school, Christopher Bowler and fellow student James Milello formed the Hudson High School Conservative Club as a forum for pro-American, pro-conservative dialogue and speech and to advocate respect and tolerance for their conservative point of view at school.
In the fall of 2004, school officials officially recognized the Conservative Club as a Hudson High School student club, which qualified them to meet on school property during non-instructional time, as well as have access to school facilities for club-related activities and place posters in authorized locations throughout the school.
Bowler and Milello chose to affiliate their club with a national organization, High School Conservative Clubs of America (HSCCA), whose stated mission is "to support the United States Constitution, uphold the Bill of Rights, advocate the moral standards of our Founding Fathers, encourage traditional American values, and assist students to form chartered conservative clubs in high schools throughout the nation.”
In an effort to publicize and promote the club and its meetings, Club members prepared and placed ten posters, which included information about the club and a reference to HSCCA’s website, on walls and bulletin boards throughout Hudson High School on Friday, Nov. 12, 2004. By the following Monday, school officials had removed seven of the ten club posters, allegedly out of a concern that they promoted violence and were anti-gay.
There's no indication mentioned of why the club's posters were considered "anti-gay"; most likely that was an oblique reference to a defense of traditional marriage. But the "promotion of violence part" is specified, and is just as stiltedly flimsy:
School officials reasoned that because the posters referenced the HSCCA website, which contained references to visual depictions of beheadings of hostages by Iraqi insurgents and terrorists, the posters thereby promoted violence, were inappropriate, and could not remain posted.
Got that? Referring to a conservative website that, in turn, refers to the medieval, barbarous tactics of our enemies in the GWOT is, somehow, akin to "promoting" them. Apparently the same operative principle behind the Extreme Media's adamant refusal to show any 9/11 images - you know, to "spare public sensibilities" and "avoid inflaming anti-Muslim bias." Meanwhile, I'd wager a week's pay that liberal student clubs put up posters touting the "torture" at Abu Ghraib and "Bush lied/kids died" and the rest of the usual lineup of "anti-war" blood mendacities without the selectively worry-warting educrats giving them a second glance.
Given where Mr. Bowler lives and where this suit has been filed, I would be surprised if it manages not to get summarily dismissed. But if nothing else, he will end up as another...well, "martyr" for the cause, and perhaps a poster boy for the need to restore the federal judiciary to the role the Founding Fathers intended it to fulfill.
I'd love to see the posters they're putting up 'round campus now.
posted by JASmius at 11:36 PM
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