Warsaw Student Talks About First Amendment Rights
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
After listening to his presentation, school board president Deb Wiggins thanked him and said he put a lot of research into it. The school corporation does have a structure to follow and encouraged Brenneman to follow that structure. Since Brenneman met with WCHS Principal Troy Akers, she said his next step was to meet with Assistant to the Superintendent Chris Gensinger.
Gensinger met with Brenneman Tuesday at 3 p.m. at the high school.
After the board meeting, Brenneman said he was satisfied with the school board's response to his concerns.
"Yes, because I was hoping that they would not just brush it off. They took me seriously and were impressed with the information I presented," Brenneman said.
Even though Brenneman's high school career is ending soon, he said he wants to leave an impact for future students so they have a right to express themselves.
In his speech to the school board, Brenneman said, in January, he planned to hand out political materials to students during lunch hour. Before he could pass out any of them, he was taken out of class and his materials confiscated. The administration told him they would review the materials and decide if he could pass them out. Two months later, he was told he could not pass them out during school hours because it might cause a disturbance.
"Your first instinct might be to say that students are not granted the same constitutional rights as the rest of the population," Brenneman said. "However, the Supreme Court declared otherwise when they said, 'It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.
"The official reason behind the school's decision was that there was a fear that my materials would cause a disturbance," he said. "But, the Supreme Court said, 'In our system, undifferentiated fear or apprehension of disturbance is not enough to overcome to the right to freedom of expression. Any departure from absolute regimentation may cause trouble. Any variation from the majority's opinion may inspire fear. Any word spoken, in class, in the lunchroom, or on the campus, that deviates from the views of another person may start an argument or cause a disturbance. But our Constitution says we must take this risk."
Brenneman told the board his plan did not involve instructional time at all. He planned to pass out materials near the Tiger Den during lunch hour. As such, he said, it does not constitute as action that "materially and substantially interferes with the operation of the school" and there is protected by the First Amendment.
Brenneman said the Supreme Court always has upheld free speech in schools as long as the actions of the students do not cause substantial interference or violate the rights of other students. Brenneman said his plan did neither of those, but was still turned into a matter of prior restraint, "the most objectionable form of censorship."
The Equal Access Act says it shall be unlawful for the school to deny any student group equal access or fair opportunity to use facilities and conduct activities, Brenneman said.
"Because other groups were given a table and permission to pass out materials during lunch hour, in many cases after I was told not to do so, the school must grant the WCHS Young Americans for Liberty a table and permission to distribute materials during lunch," he said.
Brenneman also collected more than 500 signatures of people urging the school board to reverse the administration's decision and policy. Of those 500 names, 400 are students and 100 are adults in the community.
"With the courts, the law and the people on my side, I urge the board to do two things," Brenneman said. "First, reverse the decision of the administration and permit me and other students to distribute political materials during school hours, as long as they do not interfere with the school functions or violate the rights of other students.
"Second," he said, "construct a policy specifically aimed toward students that permits expression under the conditions previously mentioned, so that such policy stands in accordance to the Supreme Court's opinion on prior restraint."
After the meeting, Brenneman said the materials he had planned to pass out included pocket-size copies of the Constitution, bumper stickers, information on Young Americans for Liberty and fliers that pointed out the voting record of Barack Obama.
In an e-mail this morning, Brenneman said he met with Gensinger Tuesday. He said Gensinger found that all of the materials were harmless, except for one sticker that implied that the president's policies were communistic in nature. Brenneman noted that the First Amendment was enacted not to protect popular speech, but to instead protect unpopular speech. Gensinger respectfully requested that I not distribute that particular sticker, but stated that Brenneman could as long as he informed him first. Brenneman agreed to those terms.
Brenneman said Gensinger said he would speak with Akers to ensure that Brenneman was given a table in a well-traveled area, and said that it was something that probably should have happened a long time ago.
"Although the inauguration day has long since passed, we can still effectively use the materials for the group's next event, which will be a report card on the president's first 100 days in office," Brenneman wrote. "After this event, the WCHS Young Americans for Liberty will focus on spreading the ideas of liberty and self-government through volunteerism and involvement in the community."
Gensinger and Brenneman also discussed the policy for a little while, Brenneman said. Gensinger affirmed that the current policy concerns the distribution of third-party materials from teachers to students, but does not include student to student transactions. Consequently, in the next few weeks, Brenneman said they will be working together to assist in the construction of a new policy that is aimed specifically toward student distribution of materials.
"Gensinger was understanding and considerate, and I look forward to working with him in the coming weeks," said Brenneman. "I believe that we can work together and devise a policy that not only guarantees students their constitutional rights, but also avoids interrupting the operations of the school."[[In-content Ad]]
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After listening to his presentation, school board president Deb Wiggins thanked him and said he put a lot of research into it. The school corporation does have a structure to follow and encouraged Brenneman to follow that structure. Since Brenneman met with WCHS Principal Troy Akers, she said his next step was to meet with Assistant to the Superintendent Chris Gensinger.
Gensinger met with Brenneman Tuesday at 3 p.m. at the high school.
After the board meeting, Brenneman said he was satisfied with the school board's response to his concerns.
"Yes, because I was hoping that they would not just brush it off. They took me seriously and were impressed with the information I presented," Brenneman said.
Even though Brenneman's high school career is ending soon, he said he wants to leave an impact for future students so they have a right to express themselves.
In his speech to the school board, Brenneman said, in January, he planned to hand out political materials to students during lunch hour. Before he could pass out any of them, he was taken out of class and his materials confiscated. The administration told him they would review the materials and decide if he could pass them out. Two months later, he was told he could not pass them out during school hours because it might cause a disturbance.
"Your first instinct might be to say that students are not granted the same constitutional rights as the rest of the population," Brenneman said. "However, the Supreme Court declared otherwise when they said, 'It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.
"The official reason behind the school's decision was that there was a fear that my materials would cause a disturbance," he said. "But, the Supreme Court said, 'In our system, undifferentiated fear or apprehension of disturbance is not enough to overcome to the right to freedom of expression. Any departure from absolute regimentation may cause trouble. Any variation from the majority's opinion may inspire fear. Any word spoken, in class, in the lunchroom, or on the campus, that deviates from the views of another person may start an argument or cause a disturbance. But our Constitution says we must take this risk."
Brenneman told the board his plan did not involve instructional time at all. He planned to pass out materials near the Tiger Den during lunch hour. As such, he said, it does not constitute as action that "materially and substantially interferes with the operation of the school" and there is protected by the First Amendment.
Brenneman said the Supreme Court always has upheld free speech in schools as long as the actions of the students do not cause substantial interference or violate the rights of other students. Brenneman said his plan did neither of those, but was still turned into a matter of prior restraint, "the most objectionable form of censorship."
The Equal Access Act says it shall be unlawful for the school to deny any student group equal access or fair opportunity to use facilities and conduct activities, Brenneman said.
"Because other groups were given a table and permission to pass out materials during lunch hour, in many cases after I was told not to do so, the school must grant the WCHS Young Americans for Liberty a table and permission to distribute materials during lunch," he said.
Brenneman also collected more than 500 signatures of people urging the school board to reverse the administration's decision and policy. Of those 500 names, 400 are students and 100 are adults in the community.
"With the courts, the law and the people on my side, I urge the board to do two things," Brenneman said. "First, reverse the decision of the administration and permit me and other students to distribute political materials during school hours, as long as they do not interfere with the school functions or violate the rights of other students.
"Second," he said, "construct a policy specifically aimed toward students that permits expression under the conditions previously mentioned, so that such policy stands in accordance to the Supreme Court's opinion on prior restraint."
After the meeting, Brenneman said the materials he had planned to pass out included pocket-size copies of the Constitution, bumper stickers, information on Young Americans for Liberty and fliers that pointed out the voting record of Barack Obama.
In an e-mail this morning, Brenneman said he met with Gensinger Tuesday. He said Gensinger found that all of the materials were harmless, except for one sticker that implied that the president's policies were communistic in nature. Brenneman noted that the First Amendment was enacted not to protect popular speech, but to instead protect unpopular speech. Gensinger respectfully requested that I not distribute that particular sticker, but stated that Brenneman could as long as he informed him first. Brenneman agreed to those terms.
Brenneman said Gensinger said he would speak with Akers to ensure that Brenneman was given a table in a well-traveled area, and said that it was something that probably should have happened a long time ago.
"Although the inauguration day has long since passed, we can still effectively use the materials for the group's next event, which will be a report card on the president's first 100 days in office," Brenneman wrote. "After this event, the WCHS Young Americans for Liberty will focus on spreading the ideas of liberty and self-government through volunteerism and involvement in the community."
Gensinger and Brenneman also discussed the policy for a little while, Brenneman said. Gensinger affirmed that the current policy concerns the distribution of third-party materials from teachers to students, but does not include student to student transactions. Consequently, in the next few weeks, Brenneman said they will be working together to assist in the construction of a new policy that is aimed specifically toward student distribution of materials.
"Gensinger was understanding and considerate, and I look forward to working with him in the coming weeks," said Brenneman. "I believe that we can work together and devise a policy that not only guarantees students their constitutional rights, but also avoids interrupting the operations of the school."[[In-content Ad]]
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