L.M. v. Town of Middleborough

Can a school ban a student from wearing a non-obscene, non-vulgar shirt on the grounds that it will upset other students, even if it is not targeted at a particular student? The First Amendment says no, even if a federal court in Massachusetts ruled otherwise.

A public middle school in Massachusetts prohibited L.M., a 12-year-old student, from wearing a t-shirt that said “There are only two genders.” Later, the school also prohibited him from wearing a shirt reading “There are CENSORED genders.” When his father sued the school for violating L.M.’s First Amendment rights, a federal district court ruled that the school could ban the t-shirt because it could make other students feel “invalid” and thus invade their right “to attend school without being confronted by messages attacking their identities.” But the Supreme Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, which hears federal appeals from Massachusetts, have both made clear that student speech can be punished as harassment only if the speech targets a specific student. General statements like the one on L.M.’s t-shirt are protected.

On October 2, 2023, FIRE filed an amicus brief in support of L.M. with the First Circuit. As the brief explains, schools cannot censor student speech merely because it offends some listener, even in the interest of nondiscrimination. And the Constitution does not elevate the rights of some students to be comfortable at school over another student’s right to express his beliefs, particularly when the latter student’s expression is not targeted at a particular individual.  FIRE urges the First Circuit to reverse and protect K-12 student speech, even when it’s unpopular and even if school administrators don’t agree with it.