Harper v. Poway Unified School District

Location: San Diego, California
Court: Ninth Circuit Federal Court of Appeals/U.S. Supreme Court

Defending freedom of speech for students in public high schools

Following his school's participation in the "Day of Silence," a national LGBT awareness day, Chase Harper wore a t-shirt with a Bible verse expressing his viewpoint regarding homosexuality and his school's support of it. As a result of Harper's stance, he was removed from classes for the day and told that he must remove the message from his shirt or face disciplinary action.

The District Court's denial of a preliminary injunction was heard by the Ninth Circuit. The Ninth Circuit ruled against Chase in a strongly worded and highly controversial opinion -- so controversial, in fact, that the United States Supreme Court vacated that opinion and remanded the case to the District Court. The District Court refused to reconsider its denial, however. We have subsequently re-filed in the Ninth Circuit where briefing is ongoing.