Public School Junior Files Suit Claiming First Amendment Right Violated

By Tracy Beck

Susan Taylor, a junior at Columbia High School in Maplewood, claims her First Amendment right to free expression was violated when she received a three-week suspension for wearing a t-shirt with the words “Proud to be an Atheist” printed on it. Taylor, who filed suit against the School District of Maplewood/South Orange on June 26, 2000 in Newark, NJ federal court, seeks not only to overturn her suspension, but also to receive $1 million in compensatory damages and $2.5 million in punitive damages.

Taylor claims that David Kasper, her history teacher and an employee at Columbia High School for 22 years, told her she was “going straight to hell” before he demanded she go to the principals office. Taylor further alleges that the school principal, Jan Gorlin, said to her “we all believe in God at this school- there’s no room for someone like you here.” Via telephone Gorlin has denied these allegations; responding with, “I’ve been an educator for nearly 30 years. I would never hurt a student like that.” Refusal to change her shirt led to Gorlin calling Susan’s parents and her removal from the building by a security guard who supposedly pushed and shoved her.

The School District has upheld Taylor’s suspension and contends that school officials have a right to maintain order and function with minimal disturbances. Eileen Bauer, the District’s attorney, adds “The courts have no authority to manage the day-to-day operations of a school.”

The parties in the suit are trying to work out settlement; however Taylor’s attorney, Nicholas Sullivan, has recently rejected the offer from the District which insists that Susan serve her entire suspension and never wear the t-shirt to school in the future.

In citing Tinker v. Des Moines School District, Susan claims that her shirt did not disrupt her classes and caused only a few comments from other students- “I was just trying to express a different point of view.”