A federal appeals court on Tuesday ruled in favor of a Michigan school district in a dispute over free speech and “Let’s Go Brandon” shirts, clothing that took a jab at then-President Joe Biden.
The mother of two boys, who got the shirts as Christmas gifts, said her sons’ First Amendment rights were violated when they were told to take off the shirts at Tri County Middle School in 2022. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed in 2-1 opinion, banning the shirt.
“In the schoolhouse, vulgarity trumps politics. And the protection for political speech doesn’t give a student carte blanche to use vulgarity at school — even when that vulgarity is cloaked in innuendo or euphemism,” said judges John Nalbandian and Karen Nelson Moore.
In 2021, an obscenity directed at Biden — “F*ck Joe Biden” — was being chanted at a NASCAR race interview, though a TV sports reporter said it was “Let’s Go, Brandon.” The line suddenly became popular among Biden’s conservative critics.
The school said it wasn’t prohibiting political messages, just vulgar ones. There was evidence that some students wore clothing that said, “Make America Great Again,” or had messages supporting President Donald Trump.
Judge John Bush disagreed with the majority opinion and said the wrong legal standard was applied.
“The phrase at issue here is a euphemism for political criticism. It contains no sexual content, no graphic imagery, and no actual profanity,” he said. “To the extent that it implies an offensive phrase, it does so obliquely — by design.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.