Court backs school in 'Let's Go Brandon' ban case

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled against two students who sued after a school punished them for wearing “Let’s Go Brandon” shirts, a phrase used to mock former President Biden.  

In a 2-1 decision Tuesday, the court ruled in favor of Tri County Middle School in Michigan, which back in 2022 made two brothers who wore “Let’s Go Brandon” shirts take them off. 

The court said it did not violate the First Amendment because the shirts were targeted for obscenity, not political beliefs.  

The phrase originated from a NASCAR event where spectators were chanting obscenities at Biden, but a reporter went viral after trying to claim the crowd was saying, “Let’s go Brandon.” The phrase was quickly picked up by Biden’s political opponents and turned into a meme. 

“In the schoolhouse, vulgarity trumps politics. And the protection for political speech doesn’t give a student carte blanche to use vulgarity at school — even when that vulgarity is cloaked in innuendo or euphemism,” Judges John Nalbandian and Karen Nelson Moore wrote in their decision.  

Judge John Bush dissented, arguing that the euphemism did have special protection and was different from using outright vulgarity.  

“By displaying the message on these shirts publicly, the students participated in broader civic discourse, a notion the Supreme Court has never rendered inappropriate for the school environment,” he wrote. 

It is unclear if the students, who say their First Amendment rights were violated, will try to appeal the matter further after the school, which argues it has let other political messaging be worn in class, succeeded here and in lower courts.