Guiles ex rel. Lucas v. Marineau

Citation349 F.Supp.2d 871
Decision Date20 December 2004
Docket NumberNo. 2:04-CV-132.,2:04-CV-132.
CourtU.S. District Court — District of Vermont
PartiesZachary GUILES, by his mother and father and next friends, Cynthia LUCAS and Timothy Guiles, Plaintiff, v. Seth MARINEAU, Kathleen Morris-Kortz, Douglas Shoik and Rodney Graham, Defendants.

David J. Williams, Esq., St. Johnsbury, VT, for Plaintiff.

Anthony B. Lamb, Esq., Burlington, VT, for Defendants.

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

SESSIONS, Chief Judge.

I. Introduction

This case requires the Court to balance the important values of a public school student's right to free speech and the authority of school officials to control the learning environment. The controversy here arose when a student, Zachary Guiles ("Zach"), at Williamstown Middle High School ("WMHS") wore a T-shirt critical of President George W. Bush. School administrators determined that the T-shirt was unacceptable school dress in so far as it contained images depicting drugs and alcohol. Zach was told that he could wear the shirt to school only if he covered the offending portions with tape.

Zach filed this action claiming that the censorship of the T-shirt was a violation of his First Amendment rights. He asked the Court to issue an injunction barring the defendants from further disciplining him for wearing the T-shirt and directing the defendants to expunge his disciplinary record connected with his wearing of the T-shirt.1 A three-day bench trial followed.

While mindful that students retain significant First Amendment freedoms in an educational setting, for the reasons outlined below, the Court finds that the defendants stayed within the bounds set by the First Amendment when they required Zach to cover those symbols on his T-shirt that depict drugs and alcohol.

II. Facts
A. The Parties

Zachary Guiles, is a minor and brings this suit by his parents and next friends, Cynthia Lucas and Timothy Guiles. In May 2004, he was a seventh grade student at WMHS, his local public school. Zach, who during his testimony showed himself to be very articulate and mature for his age, is a good student who participates in extracurricular activities. Zach also plays trombone with the Vermont Youth Orchestra.2 In the current school year, Zach is being home-schooled. Zach is still present at WMHS, however, as he attends music classes and participates in the school band.

All of the defendants are being sued in their official capacity. Defendant Seth Marineau was the Student Support Specialist at WMHS during the 2003-2004 academic year. Enforcing school policy (including the dress code) and disciplining students is an important part of his job. In the coming academic year, Marineau will be an Assistant Principal at WMHS. Defendant Kathleen Morris-Kortz is the Principal of WMHS and has supervisory authority over Marineau.

Defendant Douglas Shoik is the Superintendent of the Orange North Supervisory Union, which includes WMHS. Defendant Rodney Graham is the chairperson of the School Board for the Town of Williamstown, Vermont.

B. Factual Findings

At some point in March 2004, Zach began wearing a T-shirt to school that is critical of President George W. Bush. Zach obtained this shirt from a representative of the Vermont Green Party at an anti-war rally. The shirt is highly critical of President Bush and contains many different symbols and blocks of text.3 Pl.'s Ex. 1.

The shirt's largest text (found on both the front and the back) refers to President Bush as the "Chicken-Hawk-in-Chief" who is engaged in a "World Domination Tour."4 In smaller text, the shirt accuses the President of being a "crook," "AWOL draft dodger," "lying drunk driver" and an abuser of marijuana and cocaine. The shirt is covered with a variety of images including oil wells, dollar signs and chickens. Included among these images are some small drawings depicting drugs and alcohol.

The front and the back of the shirt include a large image of President Bush wearing a helmet with "AWOL" written on it. The President's small and very crudely drawn body appears to be the body of a chicken. In one `wing' the President is holding a martini glass. In the other `wing' the President is holding a straw. Next to the straw are three lines of cocaine and a razor blade.

Other small images of drugs and alcohol are found on the T-shirt's sleeves. The left sleeve includes an image of a chicken with a champagne bottle on one side and three lines of cocaine on the other. The right sleeve has a coat of arms labeled "Chicken Hawk Guard" and includes a drawing of a soldier drinking from a bottle. There is no question that, as a whole, the T-shirt communicates a very strong political message of disapproval (if not disdain and outright loathing) of the President's character and policies.

Zach wore the shirt approximately once per week for two months. Although some students expressed disapproval of Zach's shirt, this did not lead to any major disruption or fights. Some students complained to teachers about the shirt but the teachers responded that the shirt was permitted. These initial determinations were based on very brief inspections and the teachers did not notice the small drawings depicting drugs. Eventually, one of Zach's teachers, Kathleen Raymond, did notice these drawings and mentioned the shirt to WMHS's principal, Kathleen Morris-Kortz. The school principal did not find time to inspect Zach's shirt. Thus, it wasn't until May 12, 2004 that school authorities acted to censor the shirt.

On May 12, Guiles attempted to wear the shirt on a school field trip. A parent, who had come to school to assist with the field trip, complained to Seth Marineau, the student support specialist at Williamstown Middle High School. Marineau inspected the T-shirt and decided that it probably violated the school's dress code. Marineau called Superintendent Douglas Shoik to discuss the issue and they determined that the shirt did violate the code. The school dress policy reads in relevant part:

We recognize that personal expression through dress is an important aspect of our culture for developing a sense of individualism, and this should be allowed to develop within our system. However, we must remember we are part of an academic community and our guidelines must reflect a sense of responsibility and integrity.

Therefore, we need to separate personal expression from offensiveness by the following guidelines:

• Any aspect of a person's appearance, which otherwise constitutes a real hazard to the health and safety of self and others or is otherwise distracting, is unacceptable as an expression of personal taste. Example [Clothing displaying alcohol, drugs, violence, obscenity and racism is outside our responsibility guidelines as a school and is prohibited.]

Williamstown Middle High Sch. Student/Parent Handbook 2003-2004 at 13, Pl.'s Ex. 2. Specifically, Marineau and Shoik concluded that the T-shirt violated the prohibition on clothing displaying alcohol or drugs.

Marineau provided Guiles with three choices: (1) turn the shirt inside out; (2) tape over the images of drugs and alcohol plus the word "cocaine"; or (3) change shirts. After presenting Zach with these options, Marineau began to have doubts about whether the dress code required Zach to cover the word "cocaine" as well as the images of drugs. Marineau did not communicate this doubt to Zach, however, so Zach was given the impression that he would have to cover the word "cocaine" to be in compliance with school policy.

Zach asked to call his father, Tim Guiles. Zach and his father met with Marineau and then visited Superintendent Shoik. Shoik reaffirmed Marineau's decision. At that point, Zach went home for the day.

On May 13, 2004, Zach returned to school wearing the same T-shirt. Marineau again instructed him to either change shirts, turn the shirt inside out or tape over the offending portions. Zach declined these choices and Marineau filled out a Discipline Referral Form and sent Zach home for the rest of the day. Pl.'s Ex. 3. There is some dispute between the parties about whether this disciplinary action constituted a `suspension.' Regardless of the exact label attached to the action, however, it is undisputed that Zach was removed from school for the day and this is now part of Zach's disciplinary record at WMHS.

On May 14, Zach wore the T-shirt once again. This time, however, he covered the symbols depicting drugs and the word "cocaine" with duct tape. He wrote "censored" on each piece of duct tape. At some point during the day, Marineau saw Zach and inspected the shirt. Marineau told Zach that the shirt was now acceptable under the school dress code.

The defendants have required other students to change their clothing to conform to the school's dress code. Marineau and other teachers have required students to remove "Budweiser" hats and T-shirts advertising alcohol. Zach's shirt is the first article of censored clothing that included political content, however. On May 27, 2004, Zach filed this lawsuit challenging the school's actions.

At trial, the defendants submitted the deposition testimony of Carol L. Rose. Rose Dep. (Defs.' Ex. DD). Rose is the prevention and safety coordinator for the Safe and Healthy School Team at the Vermont Department of Education. Rose testified that, although Zach's shirt communicated an anti-Bush message, it could also communicate a mixed message about drugs. In particular, Rose was concerned that students could conclude that using drugs and alcohol are acceptable because one can use them and still become president of the United States. Id. at 33:13-24, 62:18-63:7. Rose also testified that it is important for educators to be able to control students' exposure to messages about drugs within the learning environment. See id. at 9:21-10:17. Rose called this an "environmental approach" to drug and alcohol education. Id.

The defendants also testified about the importance of controlling messages about drugs...

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1 cases
  • Guiles ex rel. Guiles v. Marineau
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (2nd Circuit)
    • August 30, 2006
    ...defendants took against plaintiff be expunged from his school record. From this holding defendants appeal. Guiles ex rel. Lucas v. Marineau, 349 F.Supp.2d 871 (D.Vt.2004). For the reasons set forth below, we affirm in part, vacate in part, and remand this case to the district A. The Parties......
1 books & journal articles
  • Freedom of Speech and of The Press
    • United States
    • The Path of Constitutional Law Part IV: The Final Cause Of Constitutional Law Sub-Part Four: The First Amendment
    • January 1, 2007
    ...F.2d at 529, citing Hazelwood, 484 U.S. at 271. [312] Hazelwood, 484 U.S. at 271. [313] See, e.g., Guiles ex rel. Lucas v. Marineau, 349 F. Supp. 2d 871, 879 (D. Vt. 2004); Pinard v. Clatskanie Sch. Dist., 319 F. Supp. 2d 1214, 1217-19 (D. Or. 2004). [314] See, e.g., LaVine v. Blaine Sch. D......

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