Arkansas Headlines
(2008-09-02)
The school district had asked the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn the U.S. District Court ruling last year that the rights of the children were violated.
On Oct. 6, 2006, 31 Watson Chapel junior high and high school students wore the armbands to protest a policy requiring them to wear khaki pants with belt loops and a white polo-style shirt with two or three buttons. Students also were required to wear identification badges.
At least 24 of the students were punished, although some of them had notes from parents saying they had the parents' permission and the protest was allowed under a 1969 U.S. Supreme Court decision.
Three of the students, with their parents, filed suit. Before trial, U.S. District Judge Leon Holmes ruled that the district had violated the students' rights and held a trial only on the issue of damages. A jury found that the students did not prove they deserved either compensatory or punitive damages. Afterward, Holmes granted a motion by the students to amend the jury verdict to award nominal damages, and each was awarded $1.
The district also sought to overturn a permanent injunction that grew out of the case and the awarding of attorney fees for the students, Chris Lowry, Colton Dougan and Michael Joseph, and their parents.
"The district court was correct to find that ... a violation of (the students') First Amendment rights had been established," Judge Lavenski R. Smith wrote for the three-judge panel.
The panel also denied to grant requests to amend the judgment to lift the nominal damages, to overturn the permanent injunction barring discipline of any students with armbands and ordering the defendants to pay legal fees. In each case, the panel said the ruling from Holmes was correct.
2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. © Copyright 2009, UALR Public Radio
