Student’s pro-Second Amendment shirt got her suspended at high school, Iowa suit says

A high school student in Iowa said she was suspended after wearing a shirt that references the Second Amendment, according to a lawsuit.

The student, who attends Johnston High School in Iowa, has filed suit against the Johnston Community School District, her principal, government teacher and several others.

She said in the lawsuit that her First Amendment rights were violated, and she is requesting undisclosed “compensatory, nominal and punitive damages,” according to the lawsuit filed on Monday, Feb. 6, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa.

A school district spokesperson said Wednesday in a statement to KCCI it had not been served the lawsuit and could not comment.

The shirt that violated school rules featured a picture of a rifle with the text “What part of ‘Shall not be infringed’ do you not understand?” It references the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which states, “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”

The student wore the shirt on Sept. 1, 2022, two days after her government teacher lectured their class about their free speech rights while at school, the lawsuit states.

“(The teacher) told his students that, although they had some right to free speech, that right was ‘extremely limited’ when the students stepped foot on school property,” according to the lawsuit.

But the student believed her teacher was wrong, so she wore the shirt to challenge what the teacher referred to as “inappropriate material.”

Despite having worn the shirt previously, and her older brother also wearing it to school, she was disciplined when the teacher deemed it “violated the school’s dress code,” the lawsuit states.

A school administrator told the student she “could not wear the shirt in school because an image of a gun could be perceived to be threatening,” according to the lawsuit. When she refused to change her shirt, she was suspended.

Johnston Community School District Superintendent Laura Kacer later apologized to the student, according to the lawsuit. But the suspension still appears on the student’s record and her teacher has not apologized to her, the lawsuit states.

“By suspending (the student) based upon her clothing — which did not materially and substantially disrupt the work and discipline of the school or invade the rights of others, did not promote illegal conduct and was not lewd, indecent or vulgar — Defendants violated (the student’s) freedom of speech, guaranteed by the First Amendment,” her attorney said.

The student is requesting the school district be prohibited from restricting clothing that is non-violent and non-threatening. She is also asking for a declaration that wearing such clothing is protected under the First Amendment.

This story was originally published February 9, 2023 at 1:52 PM with the headline "Student’s pro-Second Amendment shirt got her suspended at high school, Iowa suit says."