In a controversial decision, U.S. District Judge David Carter ruled that a California first-grader, known as B.B., does not have First Amendment protection for a drawing she made. The decision stems from an incident where B.B. was punished by her school principal, Jesus Becerra, for giving a drawing to a fellow student after a lesson on Martin Luther King Jr. and Black Lives Matter.
The drawing, which contained the phrases “Black Lives Mater” [sic] and “any life,” was intended as a gesture of empathy. However, Principal Becerra deemed it “racist” and “inappropriate,” leading to B.B. being prohibited from drawing in school and denied recess for two weeks. B.B.’s mother, Chelsea Boyle, was not informed of the incident until a year later.
Boyle filed a lawsuit, but Judge Carter dismissed the case in February, stating, “Giving great weight to the fact that the students involved were in first grade, the Court concludes that the Drawing is not protected by the First Amendment.” Carter argued that elementary schools are not “marketplaces of ideas” and administrators have more leeway to regulate speech than in high schools.
The Pacific Legal Foundation, representing the plaintiffs, criticized the ruling, stating, “The school’s massive overreaction to a young child’s innocent drawing reflects a worrying trend of race obsession in public education.” Boyle expressed her frustration, saying, “My daughter’s rights were taken away.”
The case is now under appeal with the Ninth Circuit, with a ruling expected within a year.
