Supreme Court Wisely Avoids ‘Boobies’ Case

The Supreme Court of the United States wants nothing to do with your middle school drama.

In a friendly reminder that SCOTUS has jurisdiction over the Internet, the justices recently decided not to take on a free-speech case that involved two Easton Area Middle School students in Pennsylvania wearing “I (heart) Boobies” bracelets on behalf of the Keep A Breast foundation supporting breast cancer awareness.

In August of 2013, a Philadelphia-based court ruled in favor of two middle school girls, now in high school, over the school district. Civil rights attorneys took this ruling as an opportunity to bar the school district from disciplining any students who wear the bands, while the school district expressed its continued disappointment in a decision that, it feels, undermines an educational environment’s dress code.

The bracelet manufacturers may be guilty of sophomoric unoriginality, but the message itself appears to be a harmless way for children to replace the tan line from discarded Lance Armstrong paraphernalia– especially at a school that professes to be “dedicated to the importance of developing our students into responsible citizens.”

The court’s wise decision also avoids Internet speculation as to whether Clarence Thomas would break his famous silent streak to say the word “boobies” during a hearing.

[Photo via Keep A Breast Foundation]

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>> Clark Young is, above all things, a Mainer and Red Sox fan. Follow him on Twitter here.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.

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