B. A., mother of minors D. A. and X. A., D. A. and X. A., minors, by and through their mother, B. A. v. TRI COUNTY AREA SCHOOLS; ANDREW BUIKEMA and WENDY BRADFORD, in their individual capacities - Articles

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B. A., mother of minors D. A. and X. A., D. A. and X. A., minors, by and through their mother, B. A. v. TRI COUNTY AREA SCHOOLS; ANDREW BUIKEMA and WENDY BRADFORD, in their individual capacities

Posted by: Tanja Trezise on Oct 14, 2025

Head Comment: BUSH delivered a separate dissenting opinion.

Court: 6th Circuit Court (Published Opinions)

Attorneys 1: ARGUED: Conor T. Fitzpatrick, FOUNDATION FOR INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS AND EXPRESSION, Washington, D.C., for Appellants.

Attorneys 2: ARGUED: Annabel F. Shea, GIARMARCO, MULLINS & HORTON, P.C., Troy, Michigan, for Appellees.

Attorneys 3: ON BRIEF: Conor T. Fitzpatrick, FOUNDATION FOR INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS AND EXPRESSION, Detroit, Michigan, Sara E. Berinhout, FOUNDATION FOR INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS AND EXPRESSION, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for Appellants.

Attorneys 4: ON BRIEF: Annabel F. Shea, Timothy J. Mullins, Kenneth B. Chapie, GIARMARCO, MULLINS & HORTON, P.C., Troy, Michigan, for Appellees.

Attorneys 5: ON BRIEF: Krista L. Baughman, DHILLON LAW GROUP INC., San Francisco, California, Ilya Shapiro, Tim Rosenberger, MANHATTAN INSTITUTE, New York, New York, Robert Alt, Bradley A. Smith, David C. Tryon, Alex M. Certo, J. Simon Peter Mizner, THE BUCKEYE INSTITUTE, Columbus, Ohio, M.E. Buck Dougherty III, LIBERTY JUSTICE CENTER, Austin, Texas, Derek L. Shaffer, QUINN EMANUEL URQUHART & SULLIVAN, Washington, D.C., Matthew Kudzin, COVINGTON & BURLING LLP, Washington, D.C., J. Michael Connolly, CONSOVOY MCCARTHY PLLC, Arlington, Virginia, Michael J. Grygiel, CORNELL UNIVERSITY, Ithaca, New York, Daniel Feinberg, MICHIGAN ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL BOARDS, Lansing, Michigan, for Amici Curiae.

Judge(s): MOORE, BUSH, and NALBANDIAN, Circuit Judges

Court Appealed: United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan at Grand Rapids

NALBANDIAN, Circuit Judge. Two middle schoolers in Michigan wore sweatshirts emblazoned with the phrase “Let’s Go Brandon” to school. Based on the commonly understood meaning of the slogan, the school administrators determined that the sweatshirts were inappropriate for the school environment. They asked the students to remove the sweatshirts, and fearing punishment, the students complied. But they still wanted to wear the sweatshirts at school to express their disapproval of then-President Joe Biden’s administration and its policies. So, through their mother, the students sued the school district and several school administrators, alleging that the school deprived them of their First Amendment rights. The district court sided with the school district, concluding that the school could reasonably prohibit the sweatshirts since they were vulgar speech. Because the school reasonably understood the slogan “Let’s Go Brandon” to be vulgar, we affirm.

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