A school has a "Celebrate America" day and students are encouraged to dress accordingly. Wouldn't it seem reasonable and expected that some students would celebrate the President, regardless of who the President was/is?  However, at Perry High School in Arizona, the administration has decided what political views will be tolerated and which ones will not be honored. Last week at this school, students were singled out for the political expression of wearing MAGA clothing, they were harassed, belittled and even punished for participating in an administratively sponsored event at the school. No children wearing Hillary, Obama, or Bush clothing received any punishment. There are no reports of students being singled out for supporting any other viewpoint or political figures, only Trump supporters were singled out. Perry High School has gone full Gestapo! Where is the ACLU?

The Commandant Springs Into Action

Principal Dan Serrano's goon squad of attack dogs assailed students for wearing MAGA clothing in an administratively approved event in which students were encouraged by the administration to wear clothing that would celebrate America. Celebrating America, at Perry High School in Gilbert, AZ, does not include honoring one's President. Upon seeing the clothing, the security guards told the students to leave campus. The security guards do not have the legal right to suspend students and send them off campus, especially for invited political expression. When the students did not immediately comply they were dealt with by the administration of the school. One female student refused to submit to this illegitimately authority until she was represented by her mother, was refused access to her mother in this instance and then was promptly suspended for 10 days for being "defiant". How many Constitutional violations did you just read in this paragraph?

Some of the students had MAGA signs, some did not. They were all treated the same, NO MAGA CLOTHING ALLOWED.  Let's just suppose for a moment, that the children were not celebrating Trump, but rather, they were legitimately celebrating Muhammad and the resulting religious influence on American life. Can you imagine what CNN and the rest of the liberal media would be doing with this story if the students were told to remove their Hijab? But at Perry High School, some students political views are more respected than others.

The Principal,  in a response sent to parents, said students were carrying political signs that caused a disruption and created a safety concern at lunch Friday. The CSS has information that there were other signs and T-shirts with political messages that did not cause such a concern. The Principal needs to acquaint himself with the 14th Amendment. Having a sign is not a safety concern, the Principal is referring to some comments made to the students that were derogatory (eg "racists"). Rather than deal with antagonizers, and punish them, the Principal chose to punish the victims of harassment.

 Ignorance of the Constitution

It would seem that some of the very people that are tasked with teaching our children about the rule of law and our governing authority, the Constitution, need to first be taught the lesson themselves. At Perry High School, school officials have completely gone full Gestapo and have all but burned the Constitution that these so-called educators take an oath to uphold. The First Amendment states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." Before continuing with the story, it is important to note that the First Amendment to the Constitution consists of five freedoms that were guaranteed by the Founding Fathers and this fact is lost on the Perry Administration. The First Amendment to the Constitution protects five basic freedoms: freedom of religion, freedom of speech, free-dom of the press, freedom of assembly, and freedom to petition the government. These civil liberties are the cornerstone of our democracy. The students wearing of MAGA clothing on a day when wearing clothing to celebrate one's notion of what it means to be an American, was encouraged and supported by the school's administration the right was not granted to Trump supporters.

Perry High School's Administration Declares Itself to be a Constitutional Free Zone

Unfortunately, Perry High School's administration has declared itself to be a Constitutional Free Zone! Just like the purveyors of civil rights around the planet, Perry High School has determined what Constitutional rights will be granted to the students. This approach to law is often referred to as Communitarian law as opposed to Constitutional law. Constitutional law declared that civil liberties (eg freedom of speech) is ordained by God and not granted by any governmental authority. The First 10 Amendments to the Constitution are inviolate and nonnegotiable. However, by the de facto declaration that Perry High School is a Communitarian entity, the Perry administration are the one's that can grant and disallow certain Constitutional rights as they see fit to so. These are practices of law that are most associated with Cuba, Communist China, Russia and the increasingly autocratic, European Union. In a communitarian state, the governmental authority, in this case a school, decides what civil liberties to grant. At Perry High School, the administration has seen fit to decide what liberties they will grant just like we see in third-world dictatorships and rogue governments around the world.

The Arizona Legislature Speaks Out

After days of indifference and an almost media blackout on a national scale, the quiet voices of protest are beginning to be heard. Among these voices who opposed the Constitutional rights of our children being violated, consists of the Arizona Legislature. From AZCentral:

Republican state lawmakers have asked Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich to investigate a Gilbert high school where students wearing President Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" attire and carrying a banner ran into problems last week.

House Majority Leader Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, authored the letter asking Brnovich to review whether Perry High School violated students' free speech rights.

"Given that the free speech of all U.S. citizens is guaranteed in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, we ask that you, as the state's chief legal officer, examine the facts of this case to ensure that the rights of these students were not infringed upon," the letter states.

The letter, which was posted on Twitter Monday afternoon, was signed by 26 Republican members of the Arizona House of Representatives. 

President Trump Defends the First Amendment on College Campuses

Ironically, the President just signed an executive order which tells universities that if they want federal money, they will respect the First Amendment and guarantee the right for ALL students.  

It would appear that President Trump needs to expand this executive order to include the Perry High School administration. I know the year is 2019, but when I rolled out bed this morning, my calendar said 1984! If you would like to have your feelings made known to their Governing Board, here is the contact information  

Contact the Governing Board

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Barb Mozdzen  President 480-812-7600

David Evans  Vice President 480-269-2688

Lara Bruner 480-246-5343

Lindsay Love 480-420-8201

Karen McGee 480-812-7600