Court Opinion

ID: 9553366
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 19:28:34.978238+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:30:56.743873
License: Public Domain

THOMAS, Circuit Judge,
dissenting:
Kim Jacobs wanted to wear a T-shirt to Liberty High School containing a message expressing her religious beliefs as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. When she did, she was suspended four times, for a total of twenty-five days, because the only messages allowed on shirts were those promoting the school.1 She alleges that she was penalized academically, suffered emotional harm, and eventually was forced to transfer to another school.2
The district court and the majority have determined, in very thoughtful opinions, that the school’s ban on her speech need only withstand intermediate scrutiny to pass constitutional muster, and that it does in this case. However, this conclusion directly conflicts with Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. 503, 89 S.Ct. 733, 21 L.Ed.2d 731 (1969), and Chandler v. McMinnville School District, 978 F.2d 524 (9th Cir.1992). It also represents a substantial rewriting and undermining of the First Amendment protections afforded by Tinker.
Therefore, I respectfully dissent.
I
As everyone agrees, Chandler governs the analysis of student speech in our Circuit. Chandler establishes three categories of student speech: (1) vulgar, lewd, obscene, and plainly offensive speech (analysis of which is governed by Bethel School District Number 403 v. Fraser, 478 U.S. 675, 106 S.Ct. 3159, 92 L.Ed.2d 549 (1986)); (2) school-sponsored speech (analysis of which is governed by Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier, 484 U.S. 260, 108 S.Ct. 562, 98 L.Ed.2d 592 (1988)); and (3) speech that does not fall into either of the first two categories (analysis of which is governed by Tinker). 978 F.2d at 529.
Everyone also agrees that the speech at issue in this case does not fall under either of the first two categories. Therefore, under Chandler, the analysis must be controlled by Tinker. Id. However, rather than applying the plain terms of Chandler, the district court and the majority have imported and imposed a new analytical framework that cannot be reconciled with Supreme Court jurisprudence, or with ours.
In examining student speech, the Supreme Court has consistently focused on the nature of the speech itself, as we recognized in Chandler. Id. If vulgar, lewd, obscene, and plainly offensive speech is at issue, the Fraser analysis applies, and the governmental regulation is reviewed in *443that context. When school-sponsored speech is involved, the Hazelwood analysis applies. When issues of speech and other expressive conduct are involved, the Tinker analysis applies, and the governmental action is reviewed in that context. Id. In short, under the Supreme Court’s analytical framework, and under ours, the initial inquiry is the character of the speech at issue. Only once that has been established do we examine the governmental response.
The government has, to my dismay, urged an approach — adopted by the district court and the majority — that amounts to little more than an analytical sleight of hand, a trick of misdirection. Rather than examining the nature of the speech, the majority has instead decided that the focus should be on the regulation of the speech. If the regulation is content- and viewpoint-neutral, the majority reasons, then the type of expressive conduct at issue is irrelevant. In that instance, regardless of the type of speech involved, a deferential level of scrutiny applies.
That reasoning, of course, is diametrically opposed to the teachings of Fraser, Hazelwood, and Tinker. One need only examine the facts of Tinker and Chandler to see the logical disconnect. In Tinker, the Supreme Court held that a school could not prohibit students from wearing black armbands. In Chandler, we held that a school could not prohibit students from wearing pro-teacher buttons. If we applied the Liberty High School uniform policy to those cases, that policy would have prohibited students in Tinker and Chandler from wearing those same armbands or buttons.3 However, under the majority’s analysis, this would not have resulted in a constitutional violation because the regulations were content- and viewpoint-neutral. It is obvious that the majority’s holding cannot be reconciled with Tinker and Chandler. It is the character of the speech, not the content of the governmental regulation that forms the framework of the First Amendment analysis in student speech cases.
II
The analysis of this case should have been conducted under Tinker. In Tinker, the Supreme Court confirmed a student’s right to free speech in public schools. In balancing that right against the state’s interest in maintaining an ordered and effective public education system, the Court declared that a student’s speech rights could only be curtailed if the speech: (1) would impinge on other students’ rights; or (2) would result in a “substantial disruption of or material interference with school activities.” 393 U.S. at 513-14, 89 S.Ct. 733.
Here, there is no dispute that Kim Jacobs’ wearing of a T-shirt that contained pre-printed expressions of her religious *444faith would not impinge on the rights of other students. Nor is there any suggestion that her T-shirt could possibly have resulted in a substantial disruption or material interference with school activities. Plainly then, under the standard described in Tinker, the school’s lengthy suspension of Jacobs violated her First Amendment rights.
Ill
Even if we were to adopt the majority’s legal analysis and assume Tinker only applies to viewpoint- and content-based restrictions on student speech, the result in this case still cannot be sustained. The lynchpin of the majority’s reasoning — that Liberty High School had a viewpoint- and content-neutral regulation — is unsupported, even by the limited record at hand. The school prohibits all messages on clothing, except for messages that support the school. The literal language of the rule describes logos and designs,4 but the affidavits provided in this case indicate that other messages were allowed, so long as they expressed pro-Liberty sentiments.5
Confining messages to pro-government content cannot be said to be viewpoint- or content-neutral. A regulation is content based “if either the main purpose in enacting it was to suppress or exalt speech of a certain content, or it differentiates based on the content of speech on its face.” ACLU v. City of Las Vegas, 466 F.3d 784, 793 (9th Cir.2006). Here, shirts with messages “touting the school’s athletic teams” are permitted, while a shirt bearing an anti-school spirit message would be prohibited. A policy that allows students to wear messages that express support of the school, while prohibiting messages that oppose school policy cannot be considered content-neutral: such a policy is indubitably content-based. Indeed, expressing anti-government sentiments constitutes paradigmatic political speech. Nor can a policy become content-neutral merely because each student is forced to adopt the message. Thus, on the face of this record, the Liberty High School policy cannot be considered viewpoint- or content-neutral.
IV
Even assuming the majority’s analysis is correct and intermediate scrutiny applies, the school uniform policies at issue here fail at step one of that analysis. As the majority agrees, a viewpoint- or content-neutral restriction on speech is constitutional if (1) “it furthers an important or substantial government interest;” (2) “the governmental interest is unrelated to the suppression of free expression”; and (3) “the incidental restriction on alleged First Amendment freedoms is no greater than is essential to the furtherance of that interest.” Turner Broad. Sys., Inc. v. FCC, 512 U.S. 622, 661-62, 114 S.Ct. 2445, 129 L.Ed.2d 497 (1994) (internal quotation marks omitted) (quoting United States v. O’Brien, 391 U.S. 367, 377, 88 S.Ct. 1673, 20 L.Ed.2d 672 (1968)).
So what is the “important or substantial” government purpose here? It is not, as some have suggested in similar contexts, to reduce socio-economic divisions. Rather, the state purpose of the school uniform and printed message ban is to promote “school spirit.” Assuming this is *445-455an important government purpose — an assumption indeed — the majority neglects to consider whether the record demonstrates that the school uniform policy actually furthers this interest.
The school argues that the imposition of mandatory school uniforms and the ban on expressive messages results in an improvement of the educational process in individual schools through increasing student achievement, promoting safety, and enhancing a positive school climate. There is no empirical evidence of this in the record, only conclusory affidavits filed by school officials. Indeed, the only empirical evidence in the record is that Kim Jacobs’ academic performance suffered as the direct result of the imposition of the speech ban.6 On this record, the governmental interest in promoting “school spirit” cannot come close to outweighing Kim Jacobs’ First Amendment rights.
V
There are, of course, other issues in this case, and it is easy to be diverted by them. There is the broader question of freedom of dress. See Gowri Ramachandran, Freedom of Dress: State and Private Regulation of Clothing, Hairstyle, Jewelry and Makeup, Tattoos, and Piercing, 66 Md. L.Rev. 11 (2006). There are interesting and important questions about the legal difference between dress codes (which limit the universe of clothing options) and mandatory uniform policies (which define the universe of clothing). There is the question of whether, following a Tinker analysis of Jacobs’ speech claims, her Free Exercise Clause claims should be subjected to strict scrutiny under a hybrid rights analysis. See Miller v. Reed, 176 F.3d 1202, 1207-08 (9th Cir.1999). All of these issues, and more, form part of the larger question of the constitutionality of mandatory school uniforms.
However, in the present context, these are questions that need not be answered. The simple question for me is whether the district court and the majority properly rejected the traditional Tinker analysis. Because I believe the law of our Circuit mandates that Tinker applies, I would reverse the judgment of the district court and remand for a proper reexamination of the case under Tinker. I would not reach any of the other issues urged by the parties.
For these reasons, I respectfully dissent.

. The school policy stated that "Logos on tops will be excepted [sic] only if they are Liberty High School logos or designs.” The affidavit of Donald Jacobs states that he was told that "the sole reasons for imposing discipline on Kim was that her shirts with religious messages did not conform to the Liberty School regulation that only allows pro-school messages on shirts.” He further averred that he has "observed that other Liberty High School students wearing message bearing shirts, including those with slogans touting the school’s athletic teams, have not been disciplined.” He stated that he “was told that since these messages promoted the school, they were acceptable under the policy.” The school has conceded that a design bearing a school logo with the universal "no” symbol through it (a circle with a diagonal line) would not be permitted under school policy.

. Although there are other plaintiffs and other claims, I will focus initially on Jacobs' claim because it demonstrates my fundamental difference with the analysis adopted by the district court and the majority.

. In fact, the assistant principal of Glen Taylor Elementaiy School informed another one of the plaintiffs in this case, Lona Finley, that her child’s button, stating “say no to uniforms” violated the school’s dress code as a "slogan or advertising on clothing which by [its] nature disrupts] the educational setting.” One can imagine that the students in Tinker and Chandler would also have been so informed. Of course, Ms. Finley was also told that “[t]he standard student attire policy was not the reason Ms. Finley’s child was required to remove the button.” It was actually because the metal pin fastener “presented a safety hazard and the button presented a disruption to the school environment.” Even if Ms. Finley’s child had selected a pin with the same slogan, but fastened it to his or her clothing with a "straight pin” — considered by Glen Taylor Elementary to be a safer option— the record still suggests that the button would be considered impermissible as a “disruption.” This is clearly irreconcilable with Chandler and Tinker. The record also shows that students at the same school were allowed to wear shamrocks pinned on their shirts.

. Liberty High School’s "Campus Wardrobe Basic Guidelines” provide that "[t]ops must be solid color plan [sic] red, white or navy blue,” but that "[l]ogos on tops will be excepted [sic] only if they are Liberty High School logos or designs.”

. For example, Jacobs’ father observed that shirts printed with "slogans touting the school’s athletic teams ... were acceptable under the policy.”

. While Kim Jacobs did manage to keep her grades up despite being suspended for twenty-five days, she was penalized for the in-class work she was forced to miss.