STUDENT LIAM MORRISON RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH REJECTED BY SUPREME COURT
The Supreme Court rejected the right to free speech for young student Liam Morrison. This is horrific,"says Eugene Delgaudio, president of Public Advocate.
Delgaudio said:
"You will recall the case where Massachusetts school banned a student from wearing a "There are only two genders" as well as a "There are CENSORED genders" shirt. Public Advocate filed an amicus brief on December 20, 2024.
The petition for cert was relisted 10 times, but today the Supreme Court denied Liam Morris' petition.
While Justices Thomas and Alito dissented from the denial, Chief Justice Roberts, and Justices Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett sat on their collective hands, allowing such viewpoint discrimination in government schools to continue.
Justice Thomas's short dissent stated that he disagreed with Tinker v. Des Moines, but until it is overruled, lower courts must apply it, and the First Circuit did not.
Justice Alito's dissent asserted that what the school engaged in viewpoint discrimination, and thus "the First Circuit declined to follow Tinker in this regard, instead cherry-picking which First Amendment principles it thought worthy of allowing through the schoolhouse gates."
Further, Alito explained that "Feeling upset, however, is an unavoidable part of living in our 'often disputatious' society, and Tinker made abundantly clear that the 'mere desire to avoid the discomfort and unpleasantness that always accompany an unpopular viewpoint' is no reason to thwart a student's speech," said Delgaudio.