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MONTICELLO, Ind. – In a lawsuit filed Monday on behalf of a Monticello, Indiana middle school student, the American Civil Liberties Union argues attire featuring the breast cancer awareness slogan “I [heart symbol] boobies” is protected speech under the First Amendment.
A spokesperson for the ACLU of Indiana says In January the student, who attends Roosevelt Middle School, was told by school officials to turn a bracelet bearing the phrase and a pink ribbon inside out. He was told he would be expelled if he continued to wear the bracelet at school.
"Decades ago the Supreme Court stressed that students do not shed their First Amendment rights when they enter school buildings," said Ken Falk, legal director of the ACLU of Indiana.
"The bracelet did not disrupt the educational environment, and the speech here, designed to assist in the fight against breast cancer, is not profane, indecent, lewd, vulgar, or offensive to school purposes, and is therefore protected speech under the First Amendment," added Falk.
The bracelets help support the work of the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund.
