A California judge has ruled that teachers were right to punish a seven-year-old girl for a Black Lives Matter drawing because “she is too young to have First Amendment rights.”
The first-grader was banned from recess and drawing at Viejo Elementary School in Orange County after she added the words “any life” beneath Black Lives Matter on a drawing she made and gave to a Black friend.
The image featured the words ‘Black Lives Matter’ with four round shapes in various different shades of brown, beige and yellow, which was meant to ‘represent her friends’ who were ‘racially mixed’.
The girl’s family filed a lawsuit last year against the Capistrano Unified School District, alleging that their First Amendment rights were violated during the 2021 incident.
But U.S. Central District Court Judge David Card ruled that “students have a right to be free from expressions that denigrate their race while in school.” Card added that the drawing was not protected by the First Amendment because of the age of the girl, named BB in the lawsuit, as reported by the Chronicle of San Francisco.
A California judge has ruled that teachers were right to punish a seven-year-old girl for a Black Lives Matter drawing because “she is too young to have First Amendment rights.”
Judge Card wrote: ‘An elementary school… is not a marketplace of ideas… Therefore, the disadvantages of regulating speech there are not as significant as in secondary schools, where students are approaching voting age and controversial speech might generate conducive conversation.’
Furthermore, Judge Card wrote, “A parent might question (the principal’s) conclusion, but his decision to discipline BB is his, not the federal courts’.”
Card added that ‘BB’s intentions were undoubtedly innocent… BB testified that she gave the drawing to MC to make her feel comfortable after her class learned about Martin Luther King Jr.’
BB was punished by her school after her friend, referred to as MC in the lawsuit, took the photo home, where a parent saw it and found it offensive, emailing the school and demanding action.
This led to Principal Jesus Becerra telling BB that the drawing was inappropriate and racist. He then punished BB by forcing her to publicly apologize on the playground to her classmates and teachers. BB was also banned from going to recess and drawing pictures for two weeks.
The drawing prompted the school principal, Jesus Becerra (pictured), to tell BB that the drawing was inappropriate and racist. He then punished BB by forcing her to publicly apologize on the playground to her classmates and teachers. BB was also banned from recess and drawing for two weeks.
The girl’s mother, Chelsea Boyle, pictured, is suing her seven-year-old daughter’s elementary school after she was allegedly forced to make a public apology for writing “any life” on a Black Lives Matter drawing.
However, BB’s mother, Chelsea Boyle, did not find out about the incident until much later, when she took action.
Boyle said she did not believe her daughter had done anything wrong: “I was immediately angry, I didn’t know what had happened, I knew it was fundamentally wrong.
“My daughter’s rights were taken away and I started looking for information to find out what freedom of speech was. I didn’t know what it was until I spoke to the lawyers,” she told Fox News.
The case now heads to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and attorney Caleb Trotter told the San Francisco Chronicle that Card’s ruling could set a dangerous precedent for elementary school students.
Trotter said: “If that view is allowed to survive and spread, the right to free speech of countless elementary school students across the country could be in jeopardy. That’s what really worries me.”
The first-grader was banned from recess and drawing at Viejo Elementary School in Orange County after she added the words “any life” beneath Black Lives Matter on a drawing she made and gave to a Black friend.
Meanwhile, Judge Card concluded his ruling by noting that both BB and MC have moved on.
Card said: ‘Without a doubt, BB and MC have moved on from this incident that happened three years ago.
‘BB said the draw did not strain their friendship… They have taught us an important lesson about moving on.’