Columbus, OH – On Thursday, The Buckeye Institute filed an amicus brief in D.A. v. Tri County Area Schools, calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case and tell Tri County Area Schools that their students’ political speech—even when it is expressed on a Let’s Go Brandon shirt—is protected by the First Amendment.

“The petitioners’ choice of attire, fashionable or not, clearly conveyed a political message without using profanity and is therefore protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution,” said David C. Tryon, director of litigation at The Buckeye Institute. “As the U.S. Supreme Court said in its landmark 1969 Tinker decision, neither students nor teachers ‘shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate...’”

In its brief, The Buckeye Institute argues that 1) a student wearing a Let’s Go Brandon shirt to school cannot possibly be seen as speech that represents the school, 2) nothing in the actual phrasing is vulgar, 3) it does not promote illegal drug use, and 4) the shirts did not cause a disruption to the learning environment—the four areas where the U.S. Supreme Court allows schools to regulate student speech. The Buckeye Institute further argues that if the lower court’s decision is allowed to stand, it will stifle the political speech of students and give principals and administrators near carte blanche to censor speech they don’t like.

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression represents the students in D.A. v. Tri County Area Schools. 

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