B.A., et al. v. Tri County Area Schools, et al.

The case arose when the two students received “Let’s Go Brandon” sweatshirts from their mother for Christmas. Both attempted to wear their sweatshirts to school on multiple occasions and were forced to remove them each time by school officials because they deemed the phrase profane. After a wave of other students also began wearing “Let’s Go Brandon” clothing to school, or writing “LGB” on their hands and arms in support, the school district formally banned all clothing with, or references to, the phrase, even though it is commonly seen as a political statement expressing disapproval of President Biden. After the school district refused to rescind the ban, the students and their mother sued.

The lower court ruled in the school district’s favor, analyzing the students’ speech in wearing their sweatshirts under the Supreme Court’s decision in Bethel Sch. Dist. No. 403 v. Fraser, 478 U.S. 675 (1986), which applies to vulgarity and profanity, rather than the stricter standard of the Court’s seminal school speech case, Tinker v. Des Moines Indep. Cmty. Sch. Dist., 393 U.S. 503 (1969). Applying this incorrect framing, the lower court found “Let’s Go Brandon” is profanity and not political discourse deserving of First Amendment protection. The students and their mother appealed the decision to the Sixth Circuit.

The amicus brief filed by HLLI, Dhillon Law Group, and Young America’s Foundation supports the students, highlighting the lower court’s incorrect framing of the speech and its application of Fraser rather than the correct Tinker standard. The brief points out that “Let’s Go Brandon” is clearly political speech protected by the First Amendment and allowed in schools absent a showing that the expression will generate a substantial disruption.