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American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, News Release
April 3, 2006

ACLU Seeks Assurances from Occoquan School Principal that T-Shirts Expressing Cultural Solidarity Will Be Permitted
Two students held from class for T-shirts protesting anti-immigrant legislation

Woodbridge, Va – The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia today asked an elementary school principal to apologize to two Latino students for holding them out of class because they wore T-shirts expressing opposition to a proposed anti-immigration law. The ACLU also asked the principal to announce that the incident will not be repeated and the free speech right of students will be protected in the future.

The ACLU’s request stems from an incident at Occoquan Elementary School last Friday. Principal Todd Erickson refused to allow Anderson Urrutia, 8, and Joseph Soriano, 5, to attend school wearing T-shirts with “Latinos Forever” written in Spanish on the front and “100% Latinos” on the back. The T-shirts were worn on the last day of a week of protests and walk-outs by Northern Virginia area students and others opposing new restrictions on immigrants being debated in Congress, although there were no protests or walk-outs at Occoquan.

“A student who skips class or starts a fight can be appropriately disciplined,” said ACLU of Virginia executive director Kent Willis, “but the right to quietly and peacefully wear political messages to school is fully protected by the First Amendment.”

“These kids were punished for expressing their ideas, which is exactly the opposite of what schools should be doing,” added Willis. “School officials may only prevent students from expressing their views when the expression substantially disrupts the educational process.”

“It’s hard to believe that these two kids were going to cause a huge commotion with their T-shirts,” said Willis. “Of course, we’ll never know, since they were nabbed at the schoolhouse door and sequestered until their parents came to retrieve them.”

In his letter to Erickson, Willis cites Tinker v. Des Moines, a 1969 U.S. Supreme Court decision holding that a student’s right to wear a black armband protesting the war in Vietnam was protected by the First Amendment. Willis calls the Occoquan incident a “carbon copy” of the Tinker case.

Willis asks for Erickson to clear the students’ records of any mention of the incident, to apologize to the children and the parents, and to issue a statement indicating that T-shirts like the one worn by Urrutia and Soriano will be allowed in the future.

A copy of Willis’s letter to Erickson follows.

Contact: Kent Willis (office) 804/ 644-8022

ACLU of Virginia
530 East Main Street, Suite 310 Richmond, Virginia 23219 (804) 644-8022

April 3, 2006

Mr. Todd Erickson, Principal
Occoquan Elementary School
12915 Occoquan Road
Woodbridge, VA 22192

RE: Punishment of Students for Wearing “Latinos Forever” T-Shirts to School

Dear Mr. Erickson,

I am writing concerning an incident that occurred at Occoquan Elementary School last Friday. According to news reports, you prohibited two students from attending classes because they wore T-shirts with “Latinos Forever” written across the front in Spanish. The T-shirts were worn on a day that many immigrant students protested proposed federal legislation that could severely limit their rights.

As you must certainly know, the U.S. Supreme Court has emphatically ruled that students have a right to political expression while attending public schools. In Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District., 393 U.S. 503 (1969), the nation’s highest court ruled that student political expression in school is protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution so long as it does not materially and substantially disrupt the education process.

In the Tinker case a student wore a black armband to school to protest the war in Vietnam. When Anderson Urrutia and Joseph Soriano wore T-shits expressing their solidarity with protestors against anti-immigration legislation, they were participating in a carbon copy of the scenario that led to the Tinker case and the establishment of student free speech rights under the Constitution.

While principals may be expected to use their experience and training to preempt disruptive behavior before it occurs, it is important to remember that expression protected by the First Amendment cannot be banned unless it can be demonstrated that it will materially and substantially disrupt the educational process. In this instance -- in which five and eight year-old students merely wore T-shirts expressing pride in their cultural heritage -- there was no reason whatsoever to assume that a material and substantial disruption of the educational process was inevitable.

For the foregoing reasons, we ask that you do the following: First, clear the students’ records of any indication of this incident. Second, apologize to the students and their parents for the embarrassment you caused and the time they missed from school. Third, issue a statement making it clear that students’ free speech rights are fully protected at Occoquan Elementary School, and that T-shirts of the kind worn by Anderson Urrutia and Joseph Soriano will not result in any kind of disciplinary action.

It is especially important that you take affirmative steps to reassure students that political messages will be permitted at school in the future. To leave this incident behind without such assurances is likely to chill future speech, and could result in students’ seeking an injunction in court to clarify their right to free speech at Occoquan Elementary School.

I thank you for you attention, and I look forward to hearing from you. I may be reached via at 804/644-8022 or by fax at 804/649-2733.

Sincerely,
Kent Willis
Executive Director