Legal Question in Constitutional Law in California

My school had a mandatory rally where one of the students dressed up as a Arabic person, with a sheet on his head, and chanting fake Arabic lines and pretending to be a snake tamer. I found this extremely offensive and I was hurt by the schools choice of allowing this to happen. I would like to know what legal actions I can take to stop this from happening at schools around the U.S.


Asked on 1/13/12, 12:11 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Edward Hoffman Law Offices of Edward A. Hoffman

I agree that the performance you describe was offensive. It was also culturally inaccurate. But the law allows people to be offensive and wrong. Any attempt to legally forbid such performances -- even in schools -- would violate the First Amendment. It's also hard to imagine how a statue like this could be written in a way that wouldn't cover vast amounts of other types of expression, all of which are also protected by the First Amendment.

At the same time, school officials can require all skits to be screened ahead of time and can weed out offensive material. That's true even at public schools. (Private schools are generally not constrained by the First Amendment.) Your school either didn't have such a policy or enforced it very poorly. Perhaps it will do better in the future. You can do your part by telling the principal and other administrators how you feel.

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Answered on 1/13/12, 12:28 pm


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