Oct 19, 2008 9:38 am US/Pacific
Student With Anti-Obama Shirt Lands In Detention
MURRIETA
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This wasn't the first time anti-Obama sentiments landed a child in hot water. 11-year-old Daxx Dalton, of Illinois, and his father, Dann Dalton, say his First Amendment rights were violated when he was told he couldn't wear a shirt with a similar message.
CBS
A student at a high school in the Riverside County suburbs was sent to detention, then went home, because fellow students took exception to her shirt, which called Sen. Barack Obama "a terrorist's best friend," it was reported Sunday.
Officials at Vista Murrieta High School sent the girl to a detention room because students in regular classes were upset that the girl was equating the Democratic presidential candidate to terrorists. But her mother said the shirt was saying that Obama's election would embolden terrorists, the
Californian newspaper reported.
The names of the girl and her parents were withheld by the newspaper, but her mother said the homemade shirt expresses her daughter's view that "if Obama is elected he's going to pull us out of Iraq, which is a Christmas gift to terrorists."
The school spokeswoman says the student was sent to detention because the shirt was causing a disruption, and because some students were offended.
"Using the word terrorist is just not appropriate," said Karen Parris of the
Murrieta Valley Unified School District.
"It's definitely a safety issue," she told the Californian.
A spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union said students at high schools have a First Amendment right to free speech. "This to me seems like a no-brainer," Peter Eliasberg said.
"Students have a right to free expression," he told the paper.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)
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