Case Info & Legal TeamKansas Justice Institute urges Winfield USD 465 to protect the free speech rights of students.
According to reports, Winfield USD 465 has been asked to prohibit Club America, a student-led group affiliated with Turning Point USA.
Winfield High School recognizes a wide range of student organizations that reflect diverse perspectives. The district should protect every student’s right to create and participate in a club—regardless of viewpoint.
– KJI Litigation Director Sam MacRoberts
In our view, under the facts as we understand them to be, prohibiting Club America from continuing to operate would be heavy-handed, unacceptable, and antithetical to the First Amendment.
Since at least 1969, the United States Supreme Court has been clear:
State-operated schools may not be enclaves of totalitarianism. School officials do not possess absolute authority over their students. Students in school as well as out of school are ‘persons’ under our Constitution. They are possessed of fundamental rights which the State must respect, just as they themselves must respect their obligations to the State. In our system, students may not be regarded as closed-circuit recipients of only that which the State chooses to communicate. They may not be confined to the expression of those sentiments that are officially approved. In the absence of a specific showing of constitutionally valid reasons to regulate their speech, students are entitled to freedom of expression of their views.
This moment is an important one—for the students who are a part of Club America, and the students who oppose it—and in our view, worthy of everyone’s careful attention.
