Teen Sues Over Confederate Flag Dress

[elperromagico]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=12&u=/ap/20041222/ap_on_re_us/confederate_prom_dress

LEXINGTON, Ky. - A teenager is suing her school district for barring her from the prom last spring because she was wearing a dress styled as a large Confederate battle flag.

The lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court claims the Greenup County district and administrators violated Jacqueline Duty's First Amendment right to free speech and her right to celebrate her heritage at predominantly white Russell High School's prom May 1. She also is suing for defamation, false imprisonment and assault.

She said she worked on the design for the dress for four years, though she acknowledged that some might find the Confederate flag offensive.

Duty, now a college student, said school officials told her before the prom not to wear the dress, but she didn't have another one and decided to see if administrators would change their minds.

[Left Is Write]

1. Here's an article with a photo.

http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/news/nation/10467860.htm

[underpants]

3. CLASS!

[Jesus H. Christ]

6. Here's her date.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

7. I wish all closet racist trash were as kind to flag themselves like that

would save us a lot of trouble.

[Bluebear]

8. That took FOUR YEARS to design????????

Haute Crawfish.

[underpants]

13. Listen to what her lawyer, Earl-Ray Neal, had to say

"Her only dance for her senior prom was on the sidewalk to a song playing on the radio," said Earl-Ray Neal, her lawyer.

[Left Is Write]

18. I like my lawyers to have hyphenated first names.

Makes 'em sound all lawyerly and stuff. Do you suppose Earl-Ray wears a seersucker suit and a string tie?

[underpants]

20. I wonder if he was named after James.....Earl Ray

Oh that wasn't even fair.....but it was fun.

[maveric]

19. Poor little Aryan Princess!

And just think, her "colored" seamstress/servant sewed on that for four long years!

[northzax]

4. ok, but only if I get to wear my tuxedo

covered with images of Atlanta burning to the ground.

[mark414]

2. thim fuckin yankees!

they aint gun take my dam flayg

"southern heritage" = keep the niggers in their place

[skypilot]

5. Why do these morons always want...

...to turn flags into clothing anyway? Do the citizens of any other country in the world do this?

[kittycat1164]

9. don't you mean morans? lol n/t

[asthmaticeog]

22. Yep.

[Fiona]

10. see my sig...

it's the flag that beat the crap outta her dress.

[dean_dem]

11. Ummm...wasn't Kentucky in the Union?

Man, that thing is hideous.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

15. Kentucky remained in the Union,

but many people from that state fought for the South.

[JohnKleeb]

16. Kentucky was yeah

but like a lot of things it's complex, Kentucky had a strong confederate support base and it was a slave state. Also, there are many states who stayed in the union that today have neo-confederate elements like parts of western maryland and parts of Pa, ironically those parts are near the only major battles in the north, that is the battles of Antietam and Gettysburg.

[dean_dem]

24. Duly noted. Remind me to stay out of Western Maryland.

[JohnKleeb]

26. its not big time neo-confederate but if you go to the area around

Sharpsburg, which is the nearest town to where Antietam was fought, you'll see a lot of confederate flags. It's not my favorite part of the state because its mountainous and gets cold easily, its nice I Guess if you like skiing or snowboarding.

[w4rma]

12. I hope she wins her lawsuit. (nt)

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

14. I'm sorry

but if she wanted to celebrate her Confederate heritage, she could have used one of the Confederate flags that was authorized as the official national banner. The flag she used, the battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia, was never an official Confederate banner, but it was the banner used by the KKK as a symbol of racism.

I have no problem with Southerners who celebrate the sacrifices their ancestors made if that is what they are really doing. It is easy to tell, because those folks fly one of the real Confederate flags, such as the Stars and Bars or the Stainless Banner. This shows they really know and understand their heritage. I don't think this young lady really does.

[guitar man]

17. That's pretty tacky and tasteless

But I don't necessarily agree that she should have been banned from the prom for wearing it.

On the other hand, if she were taunted, shunned perhaps spit on or at for wearing it, my response to her would have been "what did you expect, a fucking red carpet reception? Get over it."

[comradebillyboy]

21. perhaps she is a racist slut but

she has 1st amendment rights also. remember the first amendment exists to protect offensive speech. this girl is 100 percent correct in excercizing her free speech rights.

[Left Is Write]

23. I don't know about "100%" correct - the school does have the

right to set dress codes that limit the ways in which students can exercise "free speech" in the form of clothing.

However, it seems that school policy is highly ambiguous, and on that basis they will probably lose the suit.

[amazona]

25. boo effin' whoo

I'm sorry, I have to wonder about the sanity of someone who spends four years designing a dress designed to make others at her high school prom feel bad.