'Boobies' Bracelets Can Stay in Easton Schools, Court Rules

The Easton Area School District has no right to keep students from wearing "I Heart Boobies!" bracelets, a federal court ruled Monday.

The ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed in 2010 by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of two middle school girls disciplined for wearing the bracelets, which are meant to promote breast cancer awareness. 

In a statement issued Monday the ACLU called the decision by the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals a "groundbreaking" ruling.

 “The First Amendment protects schools as a space where students are free to discuss important issues like breast cancer and talk about their bodies in positive terms,”  said Reggie Shuford, ACLU of Pennsylvania’s executive director. 

“The court’s decision today is an important reminder to school administrators that they can’t punish students for speaking out just because their speech might be uncomfortable or misunderstood.”

The case began when the district suspended two girls --Brianna Hawk and Kayla Martinez -- for wearing the bracelets, arguing they were inappropriate. The girls testified that they only meant to raise awareness of breast cancer.

In 2011, U.S. District Judge Mary McLaughlin found that the bracelets were not lewd or vulgar, as the district had claimed, and said school officials had not shown that wearing them was disruptive.

The school district appealed that ruling, arguing it "substantially undermines the authority of school officials to promote civil dialogue and maintain decorum in the schools."

The case was international news, making it to Great Britain's The Daily Mail. The lede on one of that paper's stories: "The judge was no boob."