Teen Sues Over Confederate Prom Dress

MrBadExample

MrBadExample

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LEXINGTON, Kentucky (AP) -- A teenager is suing her school district for barring her from the prom last spring because she was wearing a dress styled as a large Confederate battle flag.

The lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court claims the Greenup County district and administrators violated Jacqueline Duty's First Amendment right to free speech and her right to celebrate her heritage at predominantly white Russell High School's prom May 1. She also is suing for defamation, false imprisonment and assault.

"Her only dance for her senior prom was on the sidewalk to a song playing on the radio," said her lawyer, Earl-Ray Neal.

Duty, 19, is seeking actual and punitive damages in excess of $50,000.

She said she worked on the design for the dress for four years, though she acknowledged that some might find the Confederate flag offensive.

"Everyone has their own opinion. But that's not mine," she told reporters outside the courthouse. "I'm proud of where I came from and my background."

http://www.cnn.com/2004/EDUCATION/12/22/confederate.prom.dress.ap/index.html

I support her right to wear the dress but not necessarily at a school function. The Supreme Court has decided you leave a lot of your First Amendment rights at the door when you enter a school as a student. The school has the right to ban that dress if they thought anyone at prom would be offended.

A few questions:
1. How come the people who want to "celebrate their heritage" never want to fly a state or county flag or a flag of their European ancestry?

2. If you honk her boob, does it play "Dixie" like the General Lee?
 
I don't think she has a case, the school can ban you from functions for so many reasons it's insane. I know, when it comes to student vs school, the student usually doesn't have a leg to stand on.
 
"What you do me I can't wear my Clan uniform to homecoming?"

Honestly, what did she think was going to happen? Agreed, she has the right to wear the dress, but not at school. or school functions, and $50,000? pfff.

edit: I especially like this portion

"school officials told her before the prom not to wear the dress, but she didn't have another one and decided to see if administrators would change their minds." :roll:
 
This is interesting because it is not the typical First Amendment suit. Now, if she would have been wearing a fuck Bush dress, one would wonder if the ACLU and similar organizations would be by her side.

Regardless, she's a stupid retard for wearing a dress like that. And, by the way, she must have no sense of fashion. AND, i hope she cleared this with her redneck boyfriend. Imagine picking up your date and she is wearing a rebel flag.

------
nothing in the text itself, but is the whole shaq-fu thing getting old to anyone else?
sorry
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Duty, now a college student, said school officials told her before the prom not to wear the dress, but she didn't have another one and decided to see if administrators would change their minds.
Click to expand...

I guess "Circus Tents R' Us" wasn't open late that night.
 
[quote name='David85']The dress is "freedom of expression".[/quote]
I agree, although I think its stupid she wore the dress to the prom.
 
there are a lot of people who have stuff that show where they came from. The whole upstairs of our house is dedicated to our Irish heritage.


and I personally do not find the dress all that offensive, because she is proving how big of an idiot she is. Trying to show your heritage? Honey, Kentucky was not even part of the southern states that seceeded.
 
what the hell... i hate how we have to be so politically correct in today's society. what is the problem with representing independance.... becuase that is basically what it stood for.... slavery was just an issue and that is what people dont see. the civil war was not just about slavery... it was about governemnt control and how the south didnt want it because if anyone remembers that is the reason why they came to america in the first place.

how ironic... that is all i have to say
 
[quote name='charcoalfeather']what the hell... i hate how we have to be so politically correct in today's society. what is the problem with representing independance.... becuase that is basically what it stood for.... slavery was just an issue and that is what people dont see. the civil war was not just about slavery... it was about governemnt control and how the south didnt want it because if anyone remembers that is the reason why they came to america in the first place.

how ironic... that is all i have to say[/quote]

and explain to me how there would have been a civil war if slavery never existed in america. you can't. the civil war was ALL about slavery; it has been spun by partisans to make it about state's rights, but in the end it is all about a state's right to have slavery. slavery was the reason they went to war, and no slavery in america, to presume a counter-factual, means no civil war.
 
It really wasn't about slavery (or freedom, either) - it was mostly about money, in that the south felt that they were getting the short end of the stick. They produced cotton, which was a very low-profit industry, which was then shipped up north and turned into cloth and clothing - a very high-profit industry. The south was doing half the work but getting far less than half the profits. That really was the key issue that caused the war.

Of course, you can't say "We're going to war because we want more money." That makes you look like an immoral jerk, so you need a 'moral' excuse to go to war. Something to fool the average Joe Public. It doesn't really need to be a real reason, since Joe Public very rarely investigates what's actually going on. Any convenient excuse will do. So, they picked WMDs. Wait, sorry, wrong war. I mean to say freedom, as in the freedom to own slaves. An inherently stupid position, but hey, it worked.

At least until the war was over. Unfortunately, their choice of causes pretty much permanently stained the south with a presumption of ignorance. Which technically was correct, but no more so than the average Joe Public from the north, who thought he was going to war to save those poor mistreated slaves (instead of the real reason, which was "Get them damn cotton growers back to work so I can get back to work making money.")
 
1. How come the people who want to "celebrate their heritage" never want to fly a state or county flag or a flag of their European ancestry?

At times, when I used to have a flagpole, I'd fly the US flag, and then under that, my state flag, and at times (St. Patrick's day, etc), I'd swap the state flag for a Irish Flag.

2. If you honk her boob, does it play "Dixie" like the General Lee?

One can only hope.
 
[quote name='Drocket']It really wasn't about slavery (or freedom, either) - it was mostly about money, in that the south felt that they were getting the short end of the stick. They produced cotton, which was a very low-profit industry, which was then shipped up north and turned into cloth and clothing - a very high-profit industry. The south was doing half the work but getting far less than half the profits. That really was the key issue that caused the war.

Of course, you can't say "We're going to war because we want more money." That makes you look like an immoral jerk, so you need a 'moral' excuse to go to war. Something to fool the average Joe Public. It doesn't really need to be a real reason, since Joe Public very rarely investigates what's actually going on. Any convenient excuse will do. So, they picked WMDs. Wait, sorry, wrong war. I mean to say freedom, as in the freedom to own slaves. An inherently stupid position, but hey, it worked.

At least until the war was over. Unfortunately, their choice of causes pretty much permanently stained the south with a presumption of ignorance. Which technically was correct, but no more so than the average Joe Public from the north, who thought he was going to war to save those poor mistreated slaves (instead of the real reason, which was "Get them damn cotton growers back to work so I can get back to work making money.")[/quote]

Karl Marx couldn't have said that better himself!
 
[quote name='munch']Karl Marx couldn't have said that better himself![/quote]
I'm taking that's an insult? Either way, I would have to disagree. Marx's major mistake was that he had some faith in humanity, and based his theories on the premise that human beings are, deep down, inherently decent and are capable of working together for the greater good. Utter nonsense.
 
[quote name='Drocket'][quote name='munch']Karl Marx couldn't have said that better himself![/quote]
I'm taking that's an insult? Either way, I would have to disagree. Marx's major mistake was that he had some faith in humanity, and based his theories on the premise that human beings are, deep down, inherently decent and are capable of working together for the greater good. Utter nonsense.[/quote]

Actually, you have it wrong. Marx believed that every human action was based out of naked self interest and eventually it would reach a point where people would work together in order to accumulate the most wealth for the whole. primitive accumulation is the first step in the quest for self-interest, which would lead to the oppression of the few. the few will rise not because they are good, but because they realize they are exploited. they will work together because it is the only economic system that works and allows them to not be exploited anymore.
 
[quote name='MrBadExample'] The school has the right to ban that dress if they thought anyone at prom would be offended.
[/quote]

Since when do people have the right to not be offended? That attitude has taken PC way way too far.

As long as the school is not sponsoring it or encouraging it, I think it's fine. I also think it was stupid, but that's besides the point.
 
[quote name='Backlash'][quote name='MrBadExample'] The school has the right to ban that dress if they thought anyone at prom would be offended.
[/quote]

Since when do people have the right to not be offended? That attitude has taken PC way way too far.

As long as the school is not sponsoring it or encouraging it, I think it's fine. I also think it was stupid, but that's besides the point.[/quote]

You have a good point and I'm generally in favor of the right to offend others, but in this case it's different because it's a school. If she wants to wear that dress all over town, she can. It's freedom of expression. But the Supreme Court has ruled that schools may restrict some freedoms. If the school feels that black students would be offended by the dress, they have the right to not allow her in wearing it. It's a racially charged symbol whether people always want to admit it or not. It'd be the same as someone wearing a swaztika and offending Jewish kids. Within the school grounds, the school has the right to tell people what they can and can't wear. That's how they get away with dress codes. Some high schools around me stopped letting kids wear concert t-shirts because the day after a show they would reak of pot.
 
I agree that schools should be able to limit what students wear, especially during classes.

However, I think the reason for not allowing certain clothing should be sound, and "it might offend someone" is a BS reason. Obviously, the schools do it because they are paranoid about being sued or something by kids' parents, which is indicative of a larger problem.
 
[quote name='MrBadExample'] It'd be the same as someone wearing a swaztika and offending Jewish kids.[/quote]

That's where it gets a bit interesting, while the Confederate flag was only used by the South during the Civil war, the swaztika shape and even the colors it was done in have been around for much longer. For example my mother use to have a Native American belt from before WW2 that had a black and red swaztka shape on it, would you ban that to?

My point is that if you take the PC thing to far your going to start banning such generic items that penty of people not associated with hate groups are also affected. An example was the whole trench coat moffia deal, after that happened they were threatening to not let people wear trench coats at my highschool because they might be showing support for this type of action. That really would have sucked since it rains all the time in Seattle.
 
[quote name='zionoverfire'][quote name='MrBadExample'] It'd be the same as someone wearing a swaztika and offending Jewish kids.[/quote]

That's where it gets a bit interesting, while the Confederate flag was only used by the South during the Civil war, the swaztika shape and even the colors it was done in have been around for much longer. For example my mother use to have a Native American belt from before WW2 that had a black and red swaztka shape on it, would you ban that to?

My point is that if you take the PC thing to far your going to start banning such generic items that penty of people not associated with hate groups are also affected. An example was the whole trench coat moffia deal, after that happened they were threatening to not let people wear trench coats at my highschool because they might be showing support for this type of action. That really would have sucked since it rains all the time in Seattle.[/quote]

I'm not for banning very much at all. My only point was the school has the legal right to do so and "not offending minority students" is reason enough. Outside of school I would defend her right to be a dumbass and wear the dress.
 
[quote name='MrBadExample'][quote name='zionoverfire'][quote name='MrBadExample'] It'd be the same as someone wearing a swaztika and offending Jewish kids.[/quote]

That's where it gets a bit interesting, while the Confederate flag was only used by the South during the Civil war, the swaztika shape and even the colors it was done in have been around for much longer. For example my mother use to have a Native American belt from before WW2 that had a black and red swaztka shape on it, would you ban that to?

My point is that if you take the PC thing to far your going to start banning such generic items that penty of people not associated with hate groups are also affected. An example was the whole trench coat moffia deal, after that happened they were threatening to not let people wear trench coats at my highschool because they might be showing support for this type of action. That really would have sucked since it rains all the time in Seattle.[/quote]

I'm not for banning very much at all. My only point was the school has the legal right to do so and "not offending minority students" is reason enough. Outside of school I would defend her right to be a dumbass and wear the dress.[/quote]

Yes. Outdoors things can be thrown at her more easily.
 
[quote name='MrBadExample'][quote name='jmcc']Yes. Outdoors things can be thrown at her more easily.[/quote]

:lol: Preferably heavy things.[/quote]

Intolerance answered with violence.
Hmm. Yeah, that sounds brilliant.
 
[quote name='JSweeney'][quote name='MrBadExample'][quote name='jmcc']Yes. Outdoors things can be thrown at her more easily.[/quote]

:lol: Preferably heavy things.[/quote]

Intolerance answered with violence.
Hmm. Yeah, that sounds brilliant.[/quote]

Well thank you!
 
[quote name='JSweeney'][quote name='MrBadExample'][quote name='jmcc']Yes. Outdoors things can be thrown at her more easily.[/quote]

:lol: Preferably heavy things.[/quote]

Intolerance answered with violence.
Hmm. Yeah, that sounds brilliant.[/quote]

See the smiley face? That means I was joking.
 
[quote name='JSweeney'][quote name='MrBadExample'][quote name='jmcc']Yes. Outdoors things can be thrown at her more easily.[/quote]

:lol: Preferably heavy things.[/quote]

Intolerance answered with violence.
Hmm. Yeah, that sounds brilliant.[/quote]

joke something not to be taken seriously

enjoy todays lesson
 
Hasn't history proved that intolerance is usually answered by violence? That being said, I acknowledge the joke.
 
When you are in a school (public or private), "freedom of expression" isn't really a "right". You can't go up to a teacher and say "STFU" without concequences. In the same way that public schools with uniforms can send kids home for now wearing the uniform, this girl didn't abide by the school rules and had to deal with the concequence. Move along, nothing to see here.
 
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