August 24, 2005
For immediate release
PITTSBURGH- This morning U.S. District Chief Judge Donetta Ambrose issued a preliminary injunction allowing ninth-grader Anthony Latour to return to school after the Riverside Beaver School District expelled him because of rap music songs he wrote at home and posted on the Internet.
In late April of this year, Latour was arrested for several songs he composed over the past three years under the charge that the lyrics are "terroristic threats" because they describe acts of violence. Although the juvenile court charges are still pending, the school district expelled him from school for the rest of that school year and the next. The music objected to by school officials includes a two-year-old song responding to a classmate who had taunted him, a song written last fall describing a school shooting, and a rap challenge to another student who agreed to the verbal and musical joust.
Based on evidence presented at an August 18 hearing, the court concluded that Latour's songs, while violent, did not amount to "true threats" and were, therefore, protected by the First Amendment. The court found that the school district's argument that it believed Latour to be a threat was weakened by the fact that they took no steps to investigate, like searching his locker, nor did they talk to his parents or refer Anthony to a counselor. Finally, the court ruled that the school failed to present any evidence that Anthony's songs caused a disruption in the school day, which a school must show to justify punishing a student for speech.
“The court reaffirmed the basic constitutional principle that words by themselves, even if violent, rarely can justify censorship," said Kim Watterson, a lawyer based in Pittsburgh from the international law firm Reed Smith, who is handling the case on a pro bono basis. "Anthony's rap music -- by which he flexes his lyrical muscles -- is not a true threat, but is art enjoying full First Amendment protection.”
The case continues for a final injunction. The ACLU is asking the court to declare the district's disciplinary rules unconstitutional because they punish students for constitutionally-protected speech and to award Latour damages.
The lawsuit is in U. S. District Court in Pittsburgh. The case is Latour v. Riverside Beaver School District. Plaintiffs are Anthony and his parents, John and Denise Latour. Lawyers for the Latours are Kim Watterson of the Pittsburgh law firm Reed Smith and Vic Walczak, ACLU of Pennsylvania Legal Director.
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