Blacklisted 12-year-old appeals lower court decision saying he has no free speech rights
Liam Morrison, wearing the evil shirt that he wore the
second time teachers at Nichols Middle School sent
him home.
Bring a gun to a knife fight: Today’s blacklist story is a follow-up from May. At that time 12-year-old Liam Morrison had discovered that his school, Nichols Middle School in Middleborough, Massachusetts, would not allow him to wear a shirt that said “There are only two genders,” and when he tried to return to school with a shirt that instead said “There are only censored genders,” he was sent home again.
Morrison and his parents enlisted the non-profit legal firm Alliance Defending Freedom to sue for his first amendment rights, but in June Judge Indira Talwani (appointed by Barack Obama) ruled that Morrison had no right to the first amendment, that his shirt infringed other “students’ rights to be ‘secure and to be let alone’ during the school day.”
You can read her convoluted ruling here [pdf], which required her to ignore numerous previous Supreme Court rulings that have specifically protected student speech exactly like Morrison’s. Moreover, her decision is also based on the fraudulent premise that people are supposed to be protected from speech that offends them. If people have the power to silence any speech because it hurts their feelings then no free speech exists at all. We will live in a totalitarian nightmare worse than anything dreamed up by George Orwell.
Not surprisingly, Morrison and his lawyers have now appealed. The case will now begin moving up the legal ladder, with the almost certainty that Indira Talwani’s absurd ruling will be overturned.
Unfortunately, the school term is over. Based on Morrison’s age, he will still likely be attending middle school in the fall. Whether he returns to Nichols Middle School, or goes elsewhere, remains unknown. If returns it should be to continue to fight this case, and win it so that he can wear a shirt that proclaims any political message he desires, and wear it proudly at this school.
On the other hand, it is not unreasonable for him and his parents to consider getting his education elsewhere, since he certainly isn’t getting a good education at Nichols. Then again, maybe he is getting the best education possible by this fight. Watch him state his case before the Middleborough School Committee on April 13. As I noted in May, “A more succinct definition of the First Amendment would be hard to find anywhere, even in the writings of Thomas Jefferson or John Adams.”
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Liam Morrison, wearing the evil shirt that he wore the
second time teachers at Nichols Middle School sent
him home.
Bring a gun to a knife fight: Today’s blacklist story is a follow-up from May. At that time 12-year-old Liam Morrison had discovered that his school, Nichols Middle School in Middleborough, Massachusetts, would not allow him to wear a shirt that said “There are only two genders,” and when he tried to return to school with a shirt that instead said “There are only censored genders,” he was sent home again.
Morrison and his parents enlisted the non-profit legal firm Alliance Defending Freedom to sue for his first amendment rights, but in June Judge Indira Talwani (appointed by Barack Obama) ruled that Morrison had no right to the first amendment, that his shirt infringed other “students’ rights to be ‘secure and to be let alone’ during the school day.”
You can read her convoluted ruling here [pdf], which required her to ignore numerous previous Supreme Court rulings that have specifically protected student speech exactly like Morrison’s. Moreover, her decision is also based on the fraudulent premise that people are supposed to be protected from speech that offends them. If people have the power to silence any speech because it hurts their feelings then no free speech exists at all. We will live in a totalitarian nightmare worse than anything dreamed up by George Orwell.
Not surprisingly, Morrison and his lawyers have now appealed. The case will now begin moving up the legal ladder, with the almost certainty that Indira Talwani’s absurd ruling will be overturned.
Unfortunately, the school term is over. Based on Morrison’s age, he will still likely be attending middle school in the fall. Whether he returns to Nichols Middle School, or goes elsewhere, remains unknown. If returns it should be to continue to fight this case, and win it so that he can wear a shirt that proclaims any political message he desires, and wear it proudly at this school.
On the other hand, it is not unreasonable for him and his parents to consider getting his education elsewhere, since he certainly isn’t getting a good education at Nichols. Then again, maybe he is getting the best education possible by this fight. Watch him state his case before the Middleborough School Committee on April 13. As I noted in May, “A more succinct definition of the First Amendment would be hard to find anywhere, even in the writings of Thomas Jefferson or John Adams.”
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
The video provides an excellent window into the DEI morass that is dragging our children into the abyss of confusion and ignorance. The trans madness has been perpetrated to take down Western norms of morality, family, and community. See Chris Rufo’s excellent work on this. The school board depicted here is full of credentialed and educated ideologues who are willingly participating in the system that is brainwashing the students under their charge. Sack ‘em all!
I know you have rules here Robert and I always admire your intelligence in your pursuits.
A quick note: first heard you and enjoyed the detail you brought to the John Bachelor Show on WABC 770 New York City. That said with his (CBS?) deal he got time/station shuffled and furthermore he was battling cancer last I heard. Hopefully he’s doing OK and hasn’t left us. It’s been ages since I’ve heard him, always an interesting and enlightening show.
By the Way you were graciously linked here on Whatfinger!
As for this steadfast young man ( here I may be afoul of your rules….we’ll see) he needs a new tee shirt:
“. Bathhouse Barry ‘Judge’ Dingbat Indira Talmani is one homely Jackass, too stupid to comprehend the US Constitution & The Bill of Rights. “
A little Further Homework on the “Judge”
This is laughable especially Tulsi “Im not who you think I am” Gabbard:
Read a few ( I spared you more….you’re Welcome‼️) of the gushing sycophants that get ‘selected’ every 2 years and their obsession with pigment & DEI detritus…….⬇️
Rep. Mike Honda (CA-17), CAPAC Chair Emeritus: “I am pleased to congratulate Indira Talwani on her nomination as U.S. District Court Judge for the District of Massachusetts. I am proud to see another member of the AAPI community join the judicial ranks of this prestigious bench as she joins Sabita Singh, the first judge of South Asian descent in the history of the Commonwealth. I have no doubt that Ms. Talwani will serve her country and community well and be a shining example for many in the legal profession.”
Rep. Ami Bera (CA-07): “I’m thrilled President Obama nominated Indira Talwani to the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts. She will be an outstanding judge; her education and experience with civil litigation and clerking at a district court make her extremely well-equipped to serve, and I hope to see a speedy confirmation by the U.S. Senate.”
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (HI-02): “Indira Talwani is a tremendous nominee to serve as a U.S. District Court Judge for the District of Massachusetts. This nomination is historic; and Indira’s confirmation would make her the first person of Asian descent to ever serve as a federal judge in Massachusetts. Her unique perspective and diverse legal experience – from labor law and civil rights to unfair business practices and the First Amendment – will serve her well on the bench. I strongly urge the Senate to quickly confirm this highly qualified nominee.”
Background:
Indira Talwani is currently a partner at Segal Roitman LLP, where she specializes in federal and state court litigation. She also serves as a senior editor of the American Bar Association and Bureau of National Affairs’ treatise on the Family and Medical Leave Act. Prior to joining Segal Roitman LLP, Talwani was a partner with the San Francisco law firm of Altshuler, Berzon, Nussbaum, Berzon & Rubin. After graduating from Harvard/Radcliffe College and U.C. Berkeley School of Law, she served as a law clerk for the Honorable Stanley A. Weigel on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
This nomination is historic;
Oy vey, how I hate this.
You know what else is historic? Hitler’s holocaust was historic. The Mongols were historic. The sack of Constantinople was historic. Heck, the fire on Maui was historic. The nuking of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was historic. Something being “historic” does not make it good.
As to young Master Morrison, what would his being homeschooled or going to a different school mean to his “standing” for his appeal? Some of that stuff has gotten a bit silly over the years.
And I concur with Warren’s suggestion for a new shirt. Though I might put “poopyhead” in there. It’s got a cultural reference and avoids “obscenity” silliness.
The law regarding the First Amendment and students is quite clear: students do not lose their First Amendment rights when they enter a school building. This does not mean that school boards cannot enact policies regarding dress codes. However, in enforcing these policies, a school administrator must determine if the article of clothing in question has “materially and substantially interfered” with the operation of the school. This is based on the famous case of Tinker vs. Des Moines school board and involved students who were suspended from school and prevented from wearing black armbands in support of a truce in the Vietnam War in 1965.
It does not appear that this student “materially and substantially interfered” with the operation of the school.
Indira Talwani, the name explains the 1st amendment ignorance.
Frederick Douglas’s comments on the subject:
“Liberty is meaningless where the right to utter one’s thoughts and opinions has ceased to exist. That, of all rights, is the dread of tyrants. It is the right which they first of all strike down.”
“To suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the hearer as well as those of the speaker”.
Warren R Butterfield: Thank you for the kind remarks. If you want to hear me or Batchelor again, you can simply listen to his podcasts with me, which I embed here on BtB, or you can go to his own audioboom webpage, which I link to with every podcast embed.