Supreme Court declines to take up school ban on ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ shirts

The Supreme Court will not hear a dispute over whether a Michigan public school district can bar students from wearing clothing emblazoned with “Let’s Go Brandon,” a popular conservative slogan used to mock former President Biden.

The justices declined on Monday to take up a request from two brothers who claim their First Amendment rights were violated when they were told to remove sweatshirts with the slogan because it violated the school’s policy against profanity.

The brothers, identified as D.A. and X.A, were in sixth and eighth grade, respectively, at the time. They are now enrolled in a high school in the same school district, Tri County Schools, which is located roughly 30 miles north of Grand Rapids.

Lawyers for the pair’s mother, who sued the school district and two middle school employees in 2023 on behalf of her sons, argued the apparel is protected political speech and cannot be censored so long as it is not disruptive.

A federal judge sided with the school district, finding that the school could prohibit students from wearing the slogan because it amounted to vulgar speech. A split panel for the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed .

“In the schoolhouse, vulgarity trumps politics,” the appeals court majority wrote. “And the protection for political speech doesn’t give a student carte blanche to use vulgarity at school —even when that vulgarity is cloaked in innuendo or euphemism.”

In their petition to the high court, lawyers contended that the appeals court misunderstood Fraser, a 1986 case that found the First Amendment does not prevent school districts from prohibiting vulgar and lewd speech.

They pointed to a dissent from 6th Circuit Judge John Bush, who wrote that his colleagues’ decision “essentially gives school administrators boundless discretion” to censor political speech.

“The Sixth Circuit’s decision deepens confusion and disagreement in the lower courts on an issue affecting tens of millions of public school students: What political apparel does the First Amendment protect at school?” the students’ lawyers wrote.

The school district, however, argued the slogan’s apparent meaning as a euphemism for “F— Joe Biden” cannot be ignored.

“Fraser holds that school administrators can restrict speech touching on political topics when that speech is vulgar, profane, or lewd — even when expressed in euphemisms,” its lawyers wrote. “A contrary rule would allow vulgar, lewd, and profane codewords to flood classrooms and would prevent schools from teaching students how to engage in political discussions with civility.”

The phrase originated from a 2021 NASCAR event in which a reporter who was interviewing a racecar driver incorrectly interpreted the crowd’s derogatory chant about Biden to be “Let’s Go Brandon.” The clip went viral, and the slogan was quickly embraced by conservatives as a way to express opposition to the Biden administration.

The Supreme Court has declined to take up similar cases before, including last year when it said it would not review whether a Massachusetts school district had violated a student’s constitutional rights by blocking him from wearing a “There are only two genders” shirt.