Acts like this are a very good 'toe in the water', I think. If more people push the envelope on minor stuff (like flying a flag identified with the loosing side of a civil war) then the kickback (ef ACLU, friends supporting with like flags) may make the control-mavins a bit skittish. Then when someone brings up a substantive change, perhaps they will be more leery of reacting.

I see this as a type of social vaccination program.

Jan (wears the AS Now Non-fiction t-shirt to work once in a while)

The purpose of first amendment protections is to protect unpopular or unconventional speech. There is no reason or need to protect popular speech. Popular speech is completely free in places like North Korea. You can say anything you want in North Korea....just as long as it comports with the conventional wisdom in place.

1) "to prove the banned speech would "materially and substantially" disrupt operations at the school." is the key. One can wear a cross to school. One may not wear a cross with neon flashing bulbs that plays Christian music loudly.

At the same time, it was a "slippery slope" law that I wouldn't mind seeing GONE as a teacher. I can deal with the disruption just fine, thank you.

Freedom based on "You are free until someone complains or gets upset" is a very bad compromise.

Keep speaking up.

Totally in agreement with the aclaration, I worry about the intelligence of people and the lack of common sense. But most of all I worry about "freedom" in the US. Apparantly, it´s just a word now. People everywhere are prohibiting things like clothes, foods, rights, speech, beliefs, gains, etc. What´s wrong? Where is thy freedom of speech, of ideas, of being? I worry about these things for I love that America I used to know, back in the 80´s where one still had the naive idea that anything was possible for a hard working, possitive thinking human being in the states. Nowadays, this "police" state just gives me the creeps...

I am from the South also and have both Flags. Is true history going to be crushed completely. Not in Michigan as long as I reside here. Never fired a shot!

The War of Northern Aggression left a lot of misunderstanding.

Hi mm. Just f-y-i, but the flag displayed by the youth was a rendition of a Confederate battle flag, not the "Stars and Bars". The Stars and Bars is actually the Confederate First National flag mentioned by Beej452. I also agree with Beej452 that if the youth had displayed a Stars and Bars, the looters and collectivists would have been too stupid to recognize it.

There are plenty of real things to be upset about.
With this and the previous Cinco de Mayo debacle in CA, it seems like schools clamping down on rights is one of them. Perhaps administrators should focus on education rather than subjective political correctness, beginning with educating themselves on the Constitution.

I absolutely agree with what you've said here. I, too, was roundly booed in History class when I said that the war between the states was about "State's Rights" and not about slavery. However, the young man in NJ, could still show pride by using the first national flag. It does not stir up the reaction that the battle flag does. The moochers and collectivists are too stupid to recognize it. Oh, and I was raised in Illinois but was no fan of Lincoln.
My 2 cents,
Ironheadbeej

There is no time/place clause. As I noted several times, the young man has every right to display the Stars and Bars. My reference to time/place has to do with his safety and the propensity for violence that is frequently displayed against anyone saying anything good or even civil about the Confederacy or any remembrance of it.
As an example, when I moved from Alabama to Iowa when I was in the ninth grade, I was treated with a great deal of disrespect and contempt because I had a southern accent and wa proud of the fact that I had two great grandfathers who serves as regimental commanders in the Confederate Army. I made the mistake of mentioning this in my American History class and was booed and called a traitor (in 1963)
It has only gotten worse for anyone expressing pride in their southern heritage. The young man was lucjy his truck wasn't burned with him in it.

That is what I meant by time/place reference.