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NRA sues county schools for making boy wear NRA ..
Josey1
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NRA sues county schools
By ADRIENNE SCHWISOW / Daily Progress staff writer
Sep 18, 2002
The National Rifle Association sued Albemarle County's school system Tuesday, accusing administrators of violating a 12-year-old boy's free speech rights by forcing him to turn his NRA T-shirt inside out.
Alan Newsom, 12, wore the purple "NRA Sports Shooting Camp" shirt, which featured silhouettes of three target shooters, to sixth grade at Jack Jouett Middle School in April. The school's vice principal noticed the shirt and told him to turn it inside out because the images of people shooting guns violated school policy, Alan's father, Fred Newsom, said Tuesday.
"There's nothing violent about the shirt," Newsom said, adding that the problem occurred the first time Alan wore the shirt. "He wouldn't wear anything violent."
Alan, who shoots a .22 caliber rifle at paper targets at the Rivanna Rifle and Pistol Club, came home from school discouraged, confused and "a little angry," his father said.
The Newsoms scoured the student handbook, looking for the rule Alan had broken, but couldn't find any mention of guns among the drugs, alcohol, tobacco, sex, vulgarity and religious or ethnic insults barred from student clothing by the school, Newsom said.
Alan started a petition and eventually gathered about 30 student signatures, but never gave it to anyone.
His father e-mailed the NRA.
"I was disappointed that he was made to feel disapproval about something that he had left that morning feeling proud about," Newsom said.
After the NRA contacted administrators, the school added a provision banning clothing with images of weapons or violence for the 2002-03 school year, according to a release posted Tuesday on the NRA web site.
"All we asked was that they acknowledge that Alan didn't do anything wrong. What we got was that, basically, he did do something wrong. But they wouldn't say what rule he had broken," Newsom said.
Stephen Koleszar, chairman of the county School Board, said he had been unaware of the situation until he was served with the lawsuit Tuesday. Koleszar said each school makes its own dress code.
He declined to comment further. School Board attorney Mark Trank was unavailable for comment Tuesday night. Principal Russell Jarrett declined to comment on both the suit and the school dress code.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Charlottesville, targets the principal and vice principal and the county School Board and school superintendent.
It accuses the school of violating Alan's rights to free speech and due process and seeks $100,000 in compensation and $50,000 in punitive damages.
"The T-shirt clearly depicts individuals involved in shooting sports. The images are in no way inappropriate or violent. This is a blatant infringement of young Alan's constitutional rights," NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre said in a statement on the web site.
The suit also challenges the new rule barring images of weapons and violence, arguing that the provision is too broad and could include such emblems as the U.S. Army logo and the Great Seal of the United States.
"This is clearly a case of political correctness running unchecked," LaPierre said.
http://www.dailyprogress.com/news/MGB8D3NQ86D.html
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
By ADRIENNE SCHWISOW / Daily Progress staff writer
Sep 18, 2002
The National Rifle Association sued Albemarle County's school system Tuesday, accusing administrators of violating a 12-year-old boy's free speech rights by forcing him to turn his NRA T-shirt inside out.
Alan Newsom, 12, wore the purple "NRA Sports Shooting Camp" shirt, which featured silhouettes of three target shooters, to sixth grade at Jack Jouett Middle School in April. The school's vice principal noticed the shirt and told him to turn it inside out because the images of people shooting guns violated school policy, Alan's father, Fred Newsom, said Tuesday.
"There's nothing violent about the shirt," Newsom said, adding that the problem occurred the first time Alan wore the shirt. "He wouldn't wear anything violent."
Alan, who shoots a .22 caliber rifle at paper targets at the Rivanna Rifle and Pistol Club, came home from school discouraged, confused and "a little angry," his father said.
The Newsoms scoured the student handbook, looking for the rule Alan had broken, but couldn't find any mention of guns among the drugs, alcohol, tobacco, sex, vulgarity and religious or ethnic insults barred from student clothing by the school, Newsom said.
Alan started a petition and eventually gathered about 30 student signatures, but never gave it to anyone.
His father e-mailed the NRA.
"I was disappointed that he was made to feel disapproval about something that he had left that morning feeling proud about," Newsom said.
After the NRA contacted administrators, the school added a provision banning clothing with images of weapons or violence for the 2002-03 school year, according to a release posted Tuesday on the NRA web site.
"All we asked was that they acknowledge that Alan didn't do anything wrong. What we got was that, basically, he did do something wrong. But they wouldn't say what rule he had broken," Newsom said.
Stephen Koleszar, chairman of the county School Board, said he had been unaware of the situation until he was served with the lawsuit Tuesday. Koleszar said each school makes its own dress code.
He declined to comment further. School Board attorney Mark Trank was unavailable for comment Tuesday night. Principal Russell Jarrett declined to comment on both the suit and the school dress code.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Charlottesville, targets the principal and vice principal and the county School Board and school superintendent.
It accuses the school of violating Alan's rights to free speech and due process and seeks $100,000 in compensation and $50,000 in punitive damages.
"The T-shirt clearly depicts individuals involved in shooting sports. The images are in no way inappropriate or violent. This is a blatant infringement of young Alan's constitutional rights," NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre said in a statement on the web site.
The suit also challenges the new rule barring images of weapons and violence, arguing that the provision is too broad and could include such emblems as the U.S. Army logo and the Great Seal of the United States.
"This is clearly a case of political correctness running unchecked," LaPierre said.
http://www.dailyprogress.com/news/MGB8D3NQ86D.html
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Comments
When Clinton left office they gave him a 21 gun salute. Its a damn shame they all missed....
If I'm wrong please correct me, I won't be offended.
The sound of a 12 gauge pump clears a house fatser than Rosie O eats a Big Mac !
If you will blame gun makers for every shooting then blame car maker for every car accident.
Mrs. Mudge was talking to the LEO that's assigned to her school. (An elementary school has to have an assigned cop!!!) The LEO is a lady and said that she was amazed that Mrs. Mudge has a CCW permit. She told Mrs. Mudge that most of the "educators" are virulently against guns. She also said that she thinks teachers should be allowed to carry, concealed, in the classroom. Her comment was: "Think of what an armed teacher could have done to stop the murders at Columbine and the other schools". THIS IS MY KIND OF COP!
Anyway, they got to discussing calibers and such and the cop was again surprised that Mrs. Mudge carries a .45.
Mudge the surprised
I can't come to work today. The voices said, STAY HOME AND CLEAN THE GUNS!
lets all be responsible! shoot a criminal! Remember 0% of firearms pull there own trigger!
-Kid
book on machine guns and me and 2 freinds set out to build some in machine shop. We thought we would be real sneaky and part out the project to our buddies in class. One guy built the sear one the bolt and so on. We redrew the the plans with no mention of what they were for and set out to fool the dumb old teacher. We where getting close to finishing them up when Mr. Snell called all those involved into his office and asked us to get our projects. He looked them over measured them compared them to the specs graded them and then cut them up and confiscated the plans. We all got Bs because we didn't get approval before we started the project. I still laugh about it today 20 some years later because of how smart that dumb old man was.
Remember here at DeeDee"s If we can't kill it, it's immortal
D.D.Snavely
HYPOCRITES !!!!
JD
400 million cows can't be wrong ( EAT GRASS !!! )
Now they don't have freedom of speech or dress so the Government gets 12 years to brainwash them. Life, Liberty, and the Puruit of Happiness...isn't that how it goes? Well liberty is gone, the rest are soon to follow.
*If there is one gun for every 7 people in the world, I'm saving alot of people money*