NOTE: This article includes profanity in the context of a quote and may not be suitable for everyone.
U.S. Representative Mark Amodei is taking heat for complaining to McQueen High School after a student there was suspended for a phone call last week to Amodei’s office that included profanity.
The Nevada ACLU is chastising Amodei and the Washoe County School District for what they are calling a violation of the student’s free-speech rights.
The student, Noah Christiansen, “had never had so much as a detention before, is a model student, and a major player on his school’s debate team. He had just been elected class secretary/treasurer but will not be able to serve in that role due to this unconstitutional suspension,” said Amy Rose, the Nevada ACLU’s legal director.
Christiansen’s statement to Amodei was during last week’s 17-minute student walkout protesting gun violence in schools.
He said: “Congress people who are not acting on gun control reforms need to get off their fucking asses and do something.”
For that, Christiansen was given a two-day suspension.
“The Washoe County School District (WCSD) honors, respects, and adheres to the First Amendment of our U.S. Constitution,” said school district spokesperson Victoria Campbell. “It is within this context that thousands of our students respectfully and appropriately used their First Amendment rights by participating in walk out actions on several of our campuses on March 14 as well as participated in dozens of other school-sanctioned activities related to this national movement.
“However, the District cannot discuss specific discipline of individual students due to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA),” she added. “The District expects students to act appropriately and with decorum. Some students were disciplined for breaking student conduct codes or participating in other inappropriate behavior.”
The ACLU gave to WCSD a case history about the First Amendment related to this issue, calling his punishment unconstitutional. It also asked Amodei to give Christiansen an apology.
“You have sworn to uphold and defend the U.S. Constitution, and you should know that people have the right to criticize government officials, even if they use colorful language,” said the ACLU’s Tod Story. “Courts have consistently held that swearwords are constitutionally protected, with rulings on the topic dating back as far as 1971, in which the U.S. Supreme Court held that absent a ‘particularized and compelling reason,’ the government cannot make ‘a simple display of [a] single four letter ‘expletive’ a criminal offense.”
“If we do not hear from you by then, we reserve the right to pursue all appropriate legal remedies,” Rose wrote to the district. “Noah is unaware of any other student who received such a harsh punishment for using profanity, in any context, political or otherwise. In fact, Noah often hears student(s) using profanity within earshot of teachers and administrators on campus.”
Amodei, who regularly makes off-color remarks in public, including swear words, called the statement by Christiansen vulgar.
“This is not a creampuff business,” Amodei told the Nevada Independent. “My people take a lot of stuff from people who are unhappy, so it’s not as if there is a tripwire there.”
