Strict Dress Code Blocked by Judge

A friend with a comment on this bit of legislative foolishness:

Sometimes I want to rescind my ACLU  support.   They and the judges should be forced to actually work in  our public schools and understand why strict adherence to rules such as dress  codes is essential.  We tell our students that school is their business  and they must dress for success.  Having choices is often confusing to  both students (and parents).  We have moved to a strict uniform for our  students (which they must purchase from our school store) because one person’s  business white shirt is another’s white sheer blouse.  One person’s pink  ribbon is another’s belt that spells B-I-T-C-H (yes I confiscated that  belt the last week of school and was told it was her nickname and not  profanity).

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July 4, 2007
Strict Dress Code Blocked by Judge
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/04/us/04pooh.html <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/04/us/04pooh.html>
SAN FRANCISCO, July 3 — A California <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/national/usstatesterritoriesandpossessions/california/index.html?inline=nyt-geo>  judge has blocked a middle school from enforcing a dress code so strict that a student was punished for wearing socks with pictures of Winnie the Pooh on them.
The judge, Raymond A. Guadagni of Napa County Superior Court, issued a preliminary injunction against Redwood Middle School in Napa on Monday, ruling in favor of students and parents who sued the school in March, claiming that its Appropriate Attire Policy violated the right to free speech.
School officials have said the dress code was established to eliminate gang-related symbols and other provocative images.
But students have been punished for wearing denim, T-shirts with messages that warn against drug use and pink ribbons for breast cancer awareness.
Repeated reprimands prompted a student, Toni Kay Scott, 14, and her mother, Donnell Scott of Napa, along with 13 other people, to seek help from the American Civil Liberties Union <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/a/american_civil_liberties_union/index.html?inline=nyt-org> .
School officials did not immediately return telephone calls, but the lawyer for the school district, Sally Jensen Dutcher, said the ruling was under review and would be discussed Thursday at a school board meeting.