Vermont

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
In June 2007, the US Supreme Court declined to review a case involving the free speech in Williamstown School District. The ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upholding a student’s First Amendment rights was therefore allowed to stand. The student, Zach Guiles, had worn a t-shirt to school calling President Bush “Chicken-Hawk-in Chief” who was engaged on a “World Domination Tour” and featuring pictures that alluded to the President’s alleged former substance abuse problems. The school had told Guiles he could only wear the shirt if he covered up the drug images, as they violated the school’s dress code policy barring all references to drugs on student clothing.

(The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has jurisdiction over New York and Connecticut as well as Vermont).