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A suburban Portland, Ore., teacher allegedly threatened with discipline if he kept bringing a Make America Great Again hat to teacher-training sessions can sue his former principal for First Amendment retaliation, a federal appeals court has ruled.
The 9th Circuit partially reinstated Eric Dodge’s lawsuit on Thursday, finding that former Wy’east Middle School Principal Caroline Garrett would not be protected by qualified immunity if a jury found her guilty of violating Dodge’s First Amendment rights on the eve of the 2019-2020 school year.
The three-judge panel cited “clearly established … long-standing precedent” that concerns about “the reaction to controversial or disfavored speech itself does not justify restricting such speech.”
The unanimous opinion by Judge Danielle Forrest said “it was patently unreasonable for Principal Garrett to believe that she could restrict Dodge’s speech to quell what was, in reality, nothing more than the natural effect that disfavored political speech often has on those […]
Excerpt Sourced From: justthenews.com