Meagan's parents shake their heads. This is arbitrary. The issue may be new to Collier County but such a confrontation, between a student's free-speech right and an official's authority to ban, has already led to lawyers. In March, the U.S. Supreme Court turned down an Ohio student's argument that school officials could not keep him from wearing T-shirts depicting shock rocker Marilyn Manson. Even so, it's still an open issue whether school officials can ban the Confederate flag, said Randall Marshall of the Florida chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.
Officials have to prove it's a material disruption to the educational process.
The Hills feel so strongly about the issue, they've filed a civil rights complaint with ACLU lawyers, who will decide whether to pursue the issue in court. Several Southern states have been dealing with people's differing perceptions of the rebel flag. Georgia replaced its state flag, while South Carolina and Florida have removed the Confederate flag from their capitols. But last month, Mississippi voters decided to keep the Confederate emblem on their state flag. We're seeing administrators ban Confederate symbols without any complaints.