see, i first read that shirt and said "ok, shirt says 'shit' on it, shirt gets turned inside out, shit prevented from hitting fan over shirt." then i cringed when you said you were assigned the aclu side (i agree with them on a lot of first amendment issues, but not this one, because i dont think it's a FOS issue, it's a vulgarity issue. which i suppose could be argued as FOS, "who are you to say what's vulgar" and everything. but vulgarity laws stand up legally, so i stand by my "it's not FOS" argument).
unfortunately, you'll have to play the role of "overly reactionary aclu getting her panties in a twist" and make "bush and osama no blood for oil RARRGH" the central argument, when it's ridiculously easily shot down with "it says shit, which is vulgar." but, i'm guessing that since you have 10 pages to address things, you should be have the space to address "being vulgar isn't grounds for discipline." even though it actually is, i'm assuming, explicitly stated in the school's code of conduct.
i've been doing thiol reactions, coming home with a headache, smelling like rotten eggs and farts all week, and i don't envy your assignment one bit.
that is the defense's argument, yes. vulgarity. however. political speech is significantly more protected than other forms. there are lots of cases where kids couldn't wear and say things at school that are vulgar and apolitical. but v. few cases where you can't say something vulgar that is political (see cohen v. u.s., or california, or something. cohen wore a jacket that said "fuck the draft." and he could. because he was making a political point.) and the other thing is, it doesn't say "shit." it says "bushit." it's a pun. and not, in fact, a swear word in and of itself, which a u.s. district court thought was important...
i've done too much thinking about this, is what happened. although i don't envy you the "fun with thiols!" either.
unfortunately, you'll have to play the role of "overly reactionary aclu getting her panties in a twist" and make "bush and osama no blood for oil RARRGH" the central argument, when it's ridiculously easily shot down with "it says shit, which is vulgar." but, i'm guessing that since you have 10 pages to address things, you should be have the space to address "being vulgar isn't grounds for discipline." even though it actually is, i'm assuming, explicitly stated in the school's code of conduct.
i've been doing thiol reactions, coming home with a headache, smelling like rotten eggs and farts all week, and i don't envy your assignment one bit.
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i've done too much thinking about this, is what happened. although i don't envy you the "fun with thiols!" either.
Reply
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