A California judge ruled that a seven-year-old’s First Amendment rights were not violated after being punished for a BLM drawing, raising concerns over free speech in elementary schools.
California, Bollywood Fever: A California judge has ruled that teachers were within their rights to punish a seven-year-old girl over a Black Lives Matter drawing, stating that “she’s too young to have First Amendment rights.”
The first grader was banned from recess and drawing pictures at Viejo Elementary in Orange County after she added the words “any life” below “Black Lives Matter” on a drawing she made for a Black friend. The drawing featured the phrase “Black Lives Matter” with four round shapes in various tones of brown, beige, and yellow, representing her racially-mixed friends.
The girl’s family filed a lawsuit against the Capistrano Unified School District, claiming her First Amendment rights were violated during the 2021 incident. However, US Central District Court Judge David Card ruled that “students have the right to be free from speech that denigrates their race while at school.” He added that the drawing was not protected by the First Amendment due to the girl’s age, as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle.
Judge Card explained: “An elementary school… is not a marketplace of ideas… Thus, the downsides of regulating speech there are not as significant as in high schools, where students are approaching voting age and controversial speech could spark conducive conversation.” He further noted, “A parent might second-guess (the principal’s) conclusion, but his decision to discipline B.B. belongs to him, not the federal courts.”
Card acknowledged that “undoubtedly, B.B.’s intentions were innocent,” stating that she had created the drawing to make her friend feel comfortable after a class lesson on Martin Luther King Jr. B.B. was punished after her friend, M.C., took the drawing home, where a parent found it offensive and demanded action from the school.
Principal Jesus Becerra deemed the drawing inappropriate and racist, subsequently making B.B. publicly apologize to her classmates and teachers. She was banned from recess and drawing pictures for two weeks. B.B.’s mother, Chelsea Boyle, only learned of the incident much later and took action, asserting that her daughter did nothing wrong. “I was immediately angry. I didn’t know what had happened, but I knew it was wrong fundamentally,” Boyle told Fox News. “My daughter’s rights were taken away, and I just started reaching out to find out what compelled speech was.”
The case is set to proceed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Attorney Caleb Trotter expressed concerns that Judge Card’s ruling could set a dangerous precedent for elementary students’ speech rights. “If that view is allowed to survive and spread, the speech rights of countless elementary students around the country could be at risk. That was what really concerned me,” Trotter stated.
Judge Card concluded by noting that both B.B. and M.C. have moved on from the incident. “B.B. and M.C. have undoubtedly moved on from this incident that occurred three years ago. B.B. stated that the Drawing did not strain the friendship between them… They have taught us an important lesson about moving on.”
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