Judge sides with S.C. school over Confederate garb
By MEG KINNARD, The Associated Press Thursday, September 17, 2009COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A federal judge has sided with a South Carolina school district in a lawsuit by a student who says a ban on Confederate-themed clothing violated her right to free speech.
Court documents show U.S. District Judge Terry Wooten ruled last week that a girl suing the Latta School District for the right to wear clothes bearing the Confederate emblem did not have enough evidence to mount a successful case.
In 2006, the North Carolina-based Southern Legal Resource Center filed a federal lawsuit to force Latta High School to let then-15-year-old sophomore Candice Hardwick wear the Confederate emblem. School officials said the apparel was disruptive.
Last month, a federal judge ruled a Tennessee school’s ban on Confederate clothing was a reasonable attempt to prevent disruptions.
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