by Sasha Cohen

For anyone who has not yet heard my story, I am Sasha Cohen and I am a student at Naperville North High School. Due to a recent incident at NNHS, I wish to highlight a need for policy change that is long overdue. On Wednesday December 12^th I chose to exercise my First Amendment rights; I wore a t-shirt to school bearing the politically controversial statement “the war on drugs is a war on minorities and youth fight to end it.” It also had the green marijuana leaf symbol with the caption “legalize, regulate, educate, medicate.”

A teacher demanded I remove the shirt, but I refused, citing my rights as established constitutionally and in court cases. I was subsequently taken to my dean who rejected my reasonable explanation that this was a political statement and was therefore protected at a constitutional level. She cited the board policy 7:190, which forbids garments “that depict or promote use of alcohol or drugs.” She then gave me two options: I could face suspension, which would be a permanent mark on my academic record, or I could sacrifice a basic right which is inherent to my very humanity. I informed her that I would choose the former.

Before the suspension was formally issued, a compromise was reached in which I submitted an official proposal to appeal to the board rule. I stopped wearing the shirt while awaiting a decision on my proposal. The district denied my request.

I am not attempting to convince people that legalization is correct or to make all readers advocates of my political views. I merely wish to be permitted to express my sincerely held political beliefs in a “silent, passive expression of opinion, unaccompanied by any disorder or disturbance” as the majority opinion in Tinker V. DesMoines so eloquently stated.

The board policy in question prohibits garments that “promote or depict the use of alcohol or drugs,” which I also contest as being non-applicable to my situation. Considering that this shirt is a political opinion, it must be granted greater legal protection. In 2007 the Supreme Court ruled in Morse V. Frederick that a school and its officials may restrict student speech when it is viewed by any reasonable adult as promoting illegal drug usage. I assume that is the precedent used by District 203 for its policy. However, as the majority opinion Chief Justice Roberts stated, “This is plainly not a case about political debate over the criminalization of drug use or possession.”  Justice Samuel Alito, joined by Justice Breyer in a concurring opinion, stated that he joined the majority with the understanding that “it provides no support for any restriction of speech that can plausibly be interpreted as commenting on any political or social issue, including speech on issues such as ‘the wisdom of the war on drugs’ or of legalizing marijuana for medicinal use.”

The case law is clearly supportive of this fundamental right. It is obvious that the First Amendment exists to protect democracy from becoming a “tyranny of the majority” where minority views are censored and suppressed. Even in our neighboring District 204, there was a legal battle over a political shirt that is considered rude, controversial, and simply offensive. Within our own city of Naperville, other students are fighting for and winning their rights under the law. It is crucial that we change our policies to permit people the right to express any and all legitimately held political and religious beliefs.

Sasha Cohen is an opinion writer for The North Star newspaper club.