ACLU of San Diego Defends 15-Year-Old High School Honors Student Disciplined for Wearing an American Flag in Her Back Pocket
CONTACT: media@aclu.org
Student Says She Wore Flag to Protest School Censorship
Malia Fontana, a 15-year-old honor student at Fallbrook High, was written up for wearing an American flag in her back pocket |
SAN DIEGO --
Fallbrook Union High School officials violated the First Amendment when they
ordered 15-year-old honors student Malia Fontana to remove the small American
flag she was carrying in her back pocket, the American Civil Liberties Union of
San Diego and Imperial Counties said in a letter delivered to the school
today.
"The school had no right to stop Malia from wearing
her flag," said ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties Executive Director Kevin
Keenan. "When schools discipline students for protected First Amendment
activity, they not only break the law, they also miss out on a teachable
moment."
The ACLU's letter calls on the San Diego County school
district to stop its practice of censoring students' wearing of flags and comply
with the constitutional protection of student speech laid out in the landmark
1969 U.S. Supreme Court case Tinker v. Des Moines, which affirmed the right of
students to wear black armbands in protest of the Vietnam War. The letter
also demands that the school clear Malia's school record and provide a written
apology to Malia and her mother.
In a statement,
Malia Fontana, a sophomore, said she wore her back-pocket flag to protest the
censorship of a classmate who last month was forced to remove an American flag
headband he was wearing. When Malia questioned a school security guard who
told her to remove her own flag, she was escorted to the assistant principal's
office and written up in an incident report. The following week, Malia's
mother, Nikki Fontana, learned that although the school would not require Malia
to serve detention, the report would remain in her daughter's file until six
months after graduation. Ms. Fontana, a secretary for a general
contracting company, said she was troubled that her daughter - who has never had
any discipline problems and maintains top grades - has received this black mark
on her record.
"I didn't think it was right," Malia said of the
school's actions.
Malia has long supported young people's
rights. In 8th grade, she wrote a paper in support of the Children's Bill
of Rights for which she received a grade of A+. In that paper, she
concluded, "All in all, children are the most exposed members of society and
need a voice to be heard." Malia said she thinks students should be allowed to
wear any flag and express themselves in any way that does not disrupt
school.
"Freedom of speech is the first principle of a free
society, and our public schools have a special duty to honor the constitutional
rights of students," said the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial County's Legal
Director David Blair-Loy. "Unjustified censorship of students undermines
freedom of speech for all."
The landmark Tinker v. Des Moines
ruling, which the ACLU cited in its letter to Fallbrook officials, established
the principle that students have a right to express their views, so long as
their speech does not "materially and substantially disrupt the work and
discipline of the school."
There were peaceful protests outside
Fallbrook Union High School on at least one day during the week that Malia wore
her American flag, but there was no violence or school disruption. The
ACLU noted that Principal Ruth Hellams stated in an open letter on the school's
website that school activities had not been disrupted (www.fuhsd.net/fhs/).
Earlier this week, the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties,
along with the ACLU of Northern California and ACLU of Southern California sent
a letter to every school district in the state explaining students' First
Amendment rights, including the right to peaceful protest. That document
is available at: aclusandiego.org/press_releases/SchoolDistrictsLetter041206.html