bearlyamazing said:
Let's put it this way: I challenge anyone here to stroll through campus wearing a Trump/Pence 2020 tee shirt and see the reaction. Or even better, a MAGA hat. See how many jeers and f-bombs you get. Then try it again in an Obama or Hillary shirt and see if you even hear a peep.
I think we all know what would happen in either instance.
If Conservatives truly believe that you cannot walk thru campus with a MAGA hat on without causing a ruckus, then, in theory, the University may have a constitutional right to ban all MAGA hats.
Using the Tinker test (Tinker v. Des Moines), a school can ban certain clothing if there is a "reasonable forecast of substantial disruption" by the wearing of that clothing.
A better example is Dariano v. Morgan Hill, where a school banned the wearing of American flag apparel during a Cinco de Mayo celebration, because such clothing caused a disruption the year before.
What is particularly interesting with Dariano is that no reasonable person would see the wearing of american flag apparel as offensive. and yet, the court still ruled such apparel can be banned since the school's interest to prevent disruption overrides the individual's right to protected speech. The judge defined the determinative inquiry as "not whether the threat of violence was real, but only whether it was 'reasonable for [the school] to proceed as though [it were].
We all know that the University would never ban MAGA hats from campus (just cause of the extreme political backlash). but its interesting to know that, if conservatives really do believe that you cannot wear a MAGA hat on campus without causing disruption, then there is legal precedent to ban MAGA hats.
