Three high school students who were ordered to remove American flag clothing to avoid offending students celebrating their Mexican heritage on Cinco de Mayo in 2010 filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit today, according to William J. Becker, with The Becker Law Firm. The students hope to reverse a trial judge’s ruling that their constitutional free speech and equal protection rights were not violated, he said.
A San Francisco federal judge in the case Dariano vs. Morgan Hill Unified School District ruled in November that officials at Live Oak High School, acted properly when they ordered the students to remove their clothing depicting the American flag in order to prevent racial tensions from disrupting a school-sanctioned Cinco de Mayo event.
“The American flag is not a symbol of racism or race hatemongering. It should never be ordered into a student’s locker just so it won’t offend people because of their pride in another nation’s culture,” said Becker, one of the attorneys representing the students. “The American flag symbolizes unity and promotes a public school’s goal of providing students with opportunities to celebrate their cultural heritage. The First Amendment guarantees students the right to express their patriotism every day of the year regardless of whose cultural heritage is being celebrated.”
Chief Judge James Ware dismissed the case after deciding that the school had reason to expect an outbreak of violence over the student’s patriotic expression.
