'Boobies' Bracelets Can Stay in Easton Schools, Court Rules

When two Easton Area Middle School students wore bracelets with the slogan "I Heart Boobies" on them to class, they were exercising their First Amendment rights to free speech.

That's the conclusion reached by a federal court Monday, upholding an injunction against the school district's ban on the bracelets filed by the American Civil Liberties Union.

In a statement issued Monday the ACLU called the decision by the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals a "groundbreaking" ruling.

 “The First Amendment protects schools as a space where students are free to discuss important issues like breast cancer and talk about their bodies in positive terms,”  said Reggie Shuford, ACLU of Pennsylvania’s executive director. 

“The court’s decision today is an important reminder to school administrators that they can’t punish students for speaking out just because their speech might be uncomfortable or misunderstood.”

The case began when the district suspended two girls --Brianna Hawk and Kayla Martinez -- for wearing the bracelets, arguing they were inappropriate. The girls testified that they only meant to raise awareness of breast cancer.

In 2011, U.S. District Judge Mary McLaughlin found that the bracelets were not lewd or vulgar, as the district had claimed, and said school officials had not shown that wearing them was disruptive.

The school district appealed that ruling, arguing it "substantially undermines the authority of school officials to promote civil dialog and maintain decorum in the schools."