ACLU weighs in on "Banana Man" controversy

[The Straight Story]

ACLU weighs in on "Banana Man" controversy

STAFFORD COUNTY, Va. --

It’s not OK for school officials to tell students that they can’t wear protest T-shirts, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia.

Students at Colonial Forge High School in Stafford have been forbidden to wear or carry T-shirts bearing the slogan “Free Banana Man.”

The T-shirts protest the suspension of a fellow student who sprinted around the football field dressed in a banana suit during halftime at a Friday football game.

School Principal Karen Spillman suspended the student, Bryan Thompson, for 10 days and is recommending that the suspension be extended until the end of the school year.

...

“It is well established law that students do not lose their free speech rights at the schoolhouse door,”stated Willis in an ACLU press release. “Students are not permitted to engage in an activity that disrupts the educational process, but they can express their views in school.”

http://www2.insidenova.com/news/2011/sep/22/3/aclu-weighs-banana-man-controversy-ar-1330053/

[sakabatou]

1. I thought this had something to do with Ray Comfort...

[LAGC]

8. LOL, that was my first thought too.

:D

[patrice]

2. Yay!

:hi:

[no_hypocrisy]

3. Hitler Youth button case

http://www.splc.org/news/newsflash.asp?id=1392

[The Straight Story]

4. Good on them (nt)

[petronius]

5. It's disturbing that the principal wants to suspend the kid for the whole year

That does not strike me as someone who should be running a school in the first place...

[Fire Walk With Me]

6. I for one welcome our banana-suited overlords.

The problem begins when the school can't see how ridiculous its action appears.

[Warren DeMontague]

7. sing us a song

you're the banana man

[Fire Walk With Me]

10. it hurts, it hurts

:rofl:

[joeybee12]

9. My first thought was Simmonds, the black hockey player who got a banana

thrown at him.

[SheilaT]

11. I think kids should not be allowed

to wear shirts with any kind of writing on them, other than maybe, just maybe a little lizard or frog or whatever-the-hell the little thing is that goes on expensive shirts, for those who want to spend that much money.

That way there's no need to worry that one slogan is okay while another one isn't. Keep it simple. Oh, and if a kid shows up wearing something with writing on it, the principal has a selection of plain shirts to be worn instead. No suspension, that's totally stupid.

[spedtr90]

12. He's 14, autistic, and sounds like a good kid. - Local paper has details

Video of the incident that resulted in a kid being handcuffed and possibly suspended for the year shows him running across an empty football field in a banana suit.

Wonder how bullies are punished at this school....

http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2011/092011/09212011/1316646227fls/index_html?page=1