Supreme Court refuses Confederate flag T-shirt case

Supreme Court refuses Confederate flag T-shirt case
by Warren Richey

This article is a good example of both informal and formal social control working in conjuction with one another. Formal social control is illustrated through the law and informal is demonstrated through social learning. It is through social learning that most individuals are taught the Confederate flag is a symbol associated with racism. This case was brought before the courts when "a group of high school students from Tennessee...lost a lawsuit aimed at forcing school administors to allow them to wear T-shirts displaying the Confederate flag." The students filed the lawsuit claiming the school's dress code policy was infringing upon their first amendment rights of free speech and their "desire to express their Southern heritage." Upon appeal to the Sixth US Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati and upon rejection from the US Supreme Court, the school's policy of "barring depictions of the Confederate flag on T-shirts and other clothing at school" remains.

The article can be found at:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/1005/p02s04-usju.html

Arlinda Smith, blog post #2