A federal judge has ruled that a California first-grader, B.B., does not have free speech protection for a drawing she made, sparking a debate over First Amendment rights in elementary schools. The case arose when Principal Jesus Becerra punished B.B. for giving a drawing to a classmate after a lesson on Martin Luther King Jr. and Black Lives Matter.
B.B.’s drawing included the phrases “Black Lives Mater” [sic] and “any life,” intended as a gesture of sympathy. However, Becerra labeled the drawing as “racist” and “inappropriate,” resulting in B.B. being banned from drawing at school and losing recess privileges for two weeks. B.B.’s mother, Chelsea Boyle, only learned of the incident a year later and sought an explanation and apology from Becerra, which was not provided.
Boyle’s lawsuit was dismissed by U.S. District Judge David Carter, who stated, “The Court concludes that the Drawing is not protected by the First Amendment.” Carter noted that elementary schools are not “marketplaces of ideas” and administrators can regulate speech more strictly than in high schools.
The Pacific Legal Foundation, representing B.B., argued that the punishment was an overreaction, saying, “To punish a first-grader for giving an innocuous drawing to a classmate simply because of an imagined association of the drawing with alleged racist intent shows how deep the ideology of race essentialism has permeated.”
Chelsea Boyle shared her frustration, saying, “My daughter’s rights were taken away.” Her attorney, Alexander Haberbush, added, “Every single student in this country has a right to free speech.”
The case is being appealed to the Ninth Circuit, with a decision expected within a year.
