Calif. school district settles lawsuit with girl who wore ‘disruptive’ anti-abortion T-shirt
By APFriday, August 13, 2010
Calif. school settles suit with anti-abortion girl
FRESNO, Calif. — A California school district sued by a former sixth-grade student who was asked to remove an anti-abortion T-shirt has agreed to pay $50,000 to settle the suit.
Attorneys for Tiffany Amador said Friday that officials at Merced’s McSwain Union Elementary School called the T-shirt disruptive when she wore it in April 2008.
The shirt showed pictures of an apparent fetus and said “ABORTION: growing… growing… gone.”
Los Angeles attorney William Becker says the resolution amounted to a victory for free speech rights in schools.
But Anthony DeMaria, the school district’s attorney, says the settlement helped avoid a costly trial. The district admitted no wrongdoing.
McSwain implemented a new dress code policy this school year that prohibits most graphic T-shirts.
