Kagan ?

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by Rupert Pupkin

You are right that since the school board disagreed with the principal, this case is probably over. But what if they hadn't disagreed? Is that such a far fetch? I'm sure there are plenty of liberals that would have agreed with the principal.

I'm sure the principal would have said that his intent was to keep the peace, not to discriminate against the American students because he didn't like their message. The truth of the matter is, we don't really know what his intent was. It is certainly possible that the principal feared that the shirts would cause a fight and that he would have acted in the same way had the roles been reversed (Latino students wearing Mexican flags).

To answer your question as to whether this would be the only case that would be an example of why using "intent" would be a slippery-slope, I would say not at all. Any type of free speech case would apply. My fear would be that local governments and Courts would censor speech that they don't like and would claim that their intent was noble. Since it would be difficult if not impossible to ascertain their true intent, I think it's a very slippery slope.

their intent can be noble as hell, doesn't mean they'll be able to get away with censorship. it's why i mentioned the kkk, can anyone think of a group less tilted towards hatred? maybe nazi's...at any rate, the intent to suppress them would be considered noble, still hasn't happened, and won't. the law itself might sound reasonable (no hate speech), but the intent is to stifle any speech that is uncomfortable, or that you disagree with. not so noble after all.

and no doubt the principal had a good intent-it just wasn't good enough.