Friend of the Court Brief

After the principal of Manitou Springs High School censored anti-homophobia club GSTA's "No Name-Calling Week" by removing controversial posters from the school's hallways, diminishing the effect of the club's message, Hannah Twomey, leader of the campaign meant to promote kindness and quality among all sexualities, elected not to file a lawsuit against Mr. Hard because she did not feel her Constitutional rights had been violated. However, they were. Twomey's posters, which sported derogatory slurs like "f*ggot" and "slut" in bold black lettering, were created out of her right to free speech, and by taking them down Hard chose to deliberately censor her under the pretense that he was trying to maintain a peaceful learning environment. This exact excuse had been seen before. It was used by a school official involved in the 2002 Morse vs. Frederickson court case, famous for its verdict on a fifteen-foot long "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" banner seen at a public rally. Hard's attempt to "uphold the environment" was a flop. In removing posters with the most powerful slurs, which left more humorous terms like "stoner" up, he encouraged a disruptive chorus to  in the hallways; students took "wingnut" and "slug" as a joke and called one another outrageous names, along with the foul terms that had been taken down. Hannah Twomey should have pursued a case against Mr. Hard not only because her rights were trampled, but because his actions caused the real purpose of her posters to go unnoticed. Her message -- if it makes you uncomfortable to see slurs on the walls, why would you want to hear them in the air? -- became a laughing stock. It is an unfortunate fact that because this happened, future "No Name-Calling Weeks" will not be taken seriously.