Thread: ACLU takes 'flag censorship' case in Fallbrook

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/04 ... _12_06.txt

Fallbrook student takes on high school

By: TOM PFINGSTEN - Staff Writer

FALLBROOK ---- A 15-year-old Fallbrook High School honor student said Wednesday that school officials violated her right to free speech when they allegedly asked her to hand over a handkerchief-sized American flag she wore on campus, then put a disciplinary report in her student file when she refused.

Malia Fontana, a sophomore, and her mother, Nikki Fontana, are being represented by the San Diego branch of the American Civil Liberties Union regarding the March 31 incident.

The ACLU is demanding that the district remove the report from Malia's student file, apologize to her and stop "flag censorship" on the roughly 3,000-student campus, according to the group's executive director, Kevin Keenan.


Keenan has called a news conference for 11 a.m. today in downtown San Diego.

Tom Anthony, superintendent of the Fallbrook Union High School District, said Wednesday that he could not comment on the case because he had not yet been contacted by the ACLU.

Anthony said Wednesday that he was not aware of any policy at the school prohibiting students from carrying flags.

"I do know they (school officials) gave out ... a protocol about respecting the flag ---- any flag, it didn't matter if it was U.S. or Mexican," Anthony said, adding that it had appeared during the protests that some flags were touching the ground.

Fallbrook High School is on spring break this week and Principal Ruth Hellams could not be reached for comment.

The campus, as with many in North County, struggled with student protests during the last week of March over proposed federal immigration reforms. In Fallbrook, a few hundred students participated in a series of marches through the downtown area.

School administrators have said that no demonstrations took place at the high school itself.

During the protests, Mexican flags and American flags were carried by many of the marchers.

Malia said she was not involved in the protests but took an American flag to school the day after a friend of hers was asked to remove a headband that bore the flag's image.

"That upset me, so the next day I decided to wear an American flag in my pocket," she said.

The first half of the day went smoothly, Malia said, but during lunch break she was approached by a security guard who told her she had to put the flag away.

A copy of an "incident report" written later by the guard says that the displaying of flags "was not allowed at this school."

Malia said she felt right away that forcing her to put the flag away was a violation of her rights, so she resisted.

"He asked me to remove the flag, so I asked him 'why?' and he said 'because of what's going on,' " Malia said Wednesday. She said she believed he was referring to the recent protests.

"He said if I didn't remove it, he would send me to the vice principal's office," she said.

When Malia declined again to remove the flag, she was taken to the vice principal's office and her mother was called, she said.

Nikki Fontana said that she met Malia at the office of Assistant Principal Milan Perisic. Fontana said Perisic told her that in light of the heightened tensions surrounding student walkouts, the school had suspended the displaying of flags.

Perisic could not be reached for comment Wednesday because the school was closed.

Shortly after the incident at the school, Nikki Fontana said she called the San Diego ACLU chapter. Keenan said the incident sounded somewhat similar to one he was working on in Oceanside, where the unified school district sent a letter to parents saying it had temporarily banned flags.

"(However), in Fallbrook, there was never any notice to parents or students," Keenan said. "They just started censoring the carrying and wearing of flags when they saw them. The other difference is that there were no disturbances in Fallbrook; there were some disturbances in Oceanside."

Besides restoring Malia's student record and securing an apology from Fallbrook High School, Keenan said he hopes to send a message to other school districts that banning flags can be legally dangerous.

"There were certainly no press reports that Fallbrook was doing this, so it may be that other school districts are doing this, too, and they should be on notice about what students' rights are," he said.

Nikki Fontana said she has always been proud of her daughter and just wants her treated fairly.

"She doesn't draw attention to herself," Nikki Fontana said. "She was going about the normal course of her day, she wasn't waving the flag in anybody's face, she wasn't disruptive or causing disruption in the class. None of the kids at the school approached her and said that they were offended."

Contact staff writer Tom Pfingsten at (760) 731-5799 or tpfingsten@nctimes.com.

It's about time the ACLU was on the right side of an issue. Let's hope they will do so, more often.

http://www.signonsandiego.com


Student fights write-up for showing U.S. flag

By Greg Moran
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
April 13, 2006

A small American flag, tucked into the back right-hand pocket of her pants.

And for that, the Fallbrook High School sophomore was stopped by a security officer, taken to an assistant principal's office and written up in an incident report that was placed in her student file.



Malia, who is an honors student, said she was shocked, then dismayed at what she believes was a violation of her free speech rights on March 31.
She and her mother contacted the American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego & Imperial Counties, and the ACLU dispatched a letter to district officials demanding that they remove the report from Malia's file.

The ACLU also is demanding that the district fashion a policy that conforms to long-standing law allowing students the right to express themselves on campus. If the district does not agree, a federal civil rights suit will be filed on behalf of Malia, said Kevin Keenan, the ACLU executive director in San Diego.

“I didn't think it was right,” Malia, 15, said of the school's actions.

Officials with the school district, which is on spring break this week, did not respond to phone messages and e-mails seeking comment.

Malia said other students also were told to put flags away, including a friend who was told one day before Malia's encounter to put away an American flag bandana.

Seeing that spurred Malia – after talking it over with her mother, Nikki Fontana – to take the small flag to school the next day.

That was the week of emotional student demonstrations across the county over proposed revisions to immigration laws. In Oceanside on March 29 student protesters faced off with police and hurled milk cartons and other objects, prompting officers to respond with pepper spray.

The fracas led to Oceanside officials closing the middle and high schools for two days. Superintendent Ken Noonan then banned students from bringing flags on campus, contending that they were inciting misconduct.

He was roundly criticized because the ban, eventually lifted after tensions eased, prevented displays by students of the American flag, as well as the Mexican flag.

The flags had become powerful symbols – used by both sides in the debate – during the demonstrations.

While Oceanside was in turmoil, however, Fallbrook had a small and peaceful demonstration of about 50 students, and Malia said tensions were not running high at the campus.

Nonetheless, she said she was approached by a security guard during the lunch hour and told to put away the flag sticking out of her pocket.

Malia, who wrote a paper in eighth grade advocating a Children's Bill of Rights, asked why. “I said, 'I'm an American citizen. Why can't I wear the American flag?,'” she said.

Her refusal landed her in the office of the assistant principal. Malia eventually agreed to put away the flag and returned to class.

But an incident report, which can lead to more discipline such as Saturday detention or worse, was placed in her file. Malia's mother was told by school officials later that it would remain there until six months after her daughter graduated.

Nikki Fontana said her daughter has had no discipline problems in the past and was simply expressing herself.

“She wasn't raising the flag in anyone's face, causing a disturbance or anything,” Nikki Fontana said. “No one approached her and said they were offended. Her teachers didn't say anything.”

Keenan of the ACLU said the district appears to have no firm policy regarding what students can and can't do to express themselves. He said the law does allow school to restrict student expression, but only in certain circumstances.

“The law is very clear,” he said. “Only if they (school officials) can show that there has been or will be material and substantial disruption of school activities can they censor expression.”

He said that standard allows school officials leeway, while protecting student rights of expression.



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Greg Moran: (619) 542-4586; greg.moran@uniontrib.com