Supreme Court delivers stinging rebuke to 9th Circuit in student speech case

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Today’s Supreme Court Order list contains this entry:

HARPER, TYLER C., ET AL. V. POWAY SCHOOL DISTRICT, ET AL.

The motion of Kelsie J. Harper for leave to intervene is denied. Petitioner seeks review of the judgment of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which affirmed the district court’s denial of petitioner’s motion for a preliminary injunction. The district court, however, has now entered final judgment dismissing petitioner’s claims for injunctive relief as moot. We have previously dismissed interlocutory appeals from the denials of motions for temporary injunctions once final judgment has been entered. See Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Co. v. Kuykendall, 265 U. S. 196, 205–206 (1924); Shaffer v. Carter, 252 U. S. 37, 44 (1920). In this case, vacatur of the prior judgment is also appropriate to ” ‘clea[r] the path for future relitigation of the issues between the parties and [to] eliminat[e] a judgment, review of which was prevented through happenstance.’ ” Anderson v. Green, 513 U. S. 557, 560 (1995) (per curiam) (quoting United States v. Munsingwear, Inc., 340 U. S. 36, 40 (1950)) (alterations in original). The petition for a writ of certiorari is granted. The judgment is vacated and the case is remanded to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit with instructions to dismiss the appeal as moot. See United States v. Munsingwear, Inc., supra. Reported below: 445 F. 3d 1166.

Justice Breyer dissents.

This is significant. What has happened is that the Supreme Court has wiped out one of the worst rulings ever concocted by the contemptible 9th Circuit.

In a nutshell, a San Diego-area high school student decided to protest what amounted to his school taking a political position in favor of the radical homosexual agenda. On the “Day of Silence,” an annual event put on by a radical homosexual group known as GLSEN, Tyler Chase Harper protested by wearing a T-shirt that expressed a Biblical view of the non-critical promotion of homosexual behavior. These days, GLSEN claims that its only goal is to prevent “bullying” of students who identify themselves as homosexuals. Of course, the real agenda is to establish the radical politics of unfettered sexual license as the social norm and snuff out all opposition (their organizing guide once encouraged students to construct what amounted to an enemies list among other unsavory tactics — GLSEN has since revised its guide but much of the outrageous agenda remains). They were successful at Poway High School when the school administration reprimanded Harper for daring to question the school’s political position. When he showed up with his shirt, Harper was told to “leave his faith in the car” or face immediate discipline. Harper chose to stand up for himself and was subjected to interrogation by an armed deputy sherriff.

The decision of the 9th Circuit panel (Reinhardt in the lead, natch) to uphold unprecedented school censorship powers over students who don’t toe the line was condemned on all points along the spectrum with one notable exception…silence by the ACLU on one of the most important First Amendment cases currently in the court system. This is not surprising as the ACLU receives millions in donations and support by advocates of the radical homosexual agenda…First Amendment, whatever.

The case is still moving along another track in the lower courts, but now, with the elimination of the bizarre 9th Circuit decision, the lower courts will not have it to rely upon. What’s more, the Supreme Court has issued a stern warning to the 9th Circuit that should this case again appear there that it best not come clothed in the same anti-free speech conclusions.