Is it just me or does it seem like the First Amendment only applies to anyone with a liberal agenda? It seems like any right-leaning American has lost the freedom to express his or her views on a topic without someone screaming bigotry. Just when it looked like the hope of fair and balanced free speech was gone, the Supreme Court stepped up earlier this month to make a bold statement against viewpoint-based censorship. Score one of the red team!

According to firstamendmentcenter.org, in 2004, Poway High School student Tyler Chase was suspended for wearing a t-shirt to school with the messages "I will not accept what God has condemned," and "Homosexuality is shameful. Romans 1:27." The analysis of the case states that "He wore the shirt on the school district's 'Day of Silence,' meant to encourage tolerance of gays. Students were allowed to wear t-shirts conveying pro-gay messages. School officials, claiming that Harper's 'negative' message could be disruptive, suspended him after he refused to take off the shirt."

The pride of all liberal activists, the Ninth Circuit Court ruled against Harper, saying the school had a right to suspend him for not changing his shirt. Judge Reinhardt said, "Those who administer our public educational institutions need not tolerate verbal assaults that may destroy the self-esteem of our most vulnerable teenagers and interfere with their educational development. Because a school sponsors a 'Day of Religious Tolerance,' it need not permit its students to wear t-shirts reading, 'Jews are Christ-Killers' or 'All Muslims Are Evil Doers.'"

Judge Alex Kozinski, in his dissent, said that the school district had offered no evidence that the shirt was or could be disruptive (the test set forth in Tinker v. Des Moines). He said the dialogue resulting from the shirt's message would be educational - especially on a day dedicated to tolerance.

The Supreme Court did not place the case on its docket, but instead vacated the decision of the 9th Circuit, sending it back to them to declare the case moot. Justice Stephen Breyer dissented.

I shared this case with my School Law class during the "topics of the day" section last night. It seemed as though the general consensus of the class was that they shared my sentiments that we have gone too far as a nation in worrying about offending someone or hurting their feelings - to the point that people no longer have a right to present opposing viewpoints. The shirt was not slanderous (as were the shirts in the hypothetical comparison made by Reinhardt.)

We have, for now, a victory for conservative free speech . . . for fair and balanced debate . . . for a while. At some point, this issue will come up again and the liberal 9th Circuit will be ready to limit speech of anyone with an opinion not supported by their ideology.

So Reinhardt was concerned that vulnerable teenagers' self-esteem would be damaged . . . is it possible that the pro-gay shirts were offensive to conservatives like Harper?