Next Stop for 'Boobies' Bracelets: Supreme Court?

Pa. school board votes to appeal federal court decision
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Oct 30, 2013 8:31 AM CDT
Next Stop for 'Boobies' Bracelets: Supreme Court?
An Easton Area School District student displays her "I (heart) Boobies!" bracelets for photographers.   (Matt Rourke)

The court battle between two girls and their Pennsylvania school over "I (heart) Boobies!" bracelets could be settled by the US Supreme Court. The Easton Area School District board voted 7-1 last night to appeal a federal appeals court's decision that rejected its claim the bracelets are lewd and should be banned from school. The case started in 2010 when two girls, then ages 12 and 13, challenged the school's ban on the bracelets designed to promote breast cancer awareness among young people. In August, a US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court's decision in favor of the girls, saying also that the district didn't prove the bracelets are disruptive.

An attorney for the ACLU, which helped the girls challenge the ban, says the school had been hinting that it would petition the Supreme Court. "I'm just really surprised that they're so determined to fight this speech case of all speech cases," said Mary Catherine Roper. "(The bracelets) didn't cause any problems in the school." The school district solicitor says they are "concerned about the implications of a hypersexualized environment," the Express-Times reported. Says the lone board member who voted against the appeal: "I think we should be done with it. Let it go. We lost 20, 30 times, I don't even know anymore." (More i (heart) boobies stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X