Student Free Speech Rights
Guiles v. Marineau
The Trial
Many lawyers feel very strongly about protecting citizens’ constitutional rights. They are willing to help the ACLU go to court to file cases on behalf of citizens who feel their rights have been violated. Stephen Saltonstall, a lawyer in the firm of Barr, Sternberg, Moss, Lawrence, Silver & Saltonstall, P.C., in Bennington, agreed to be a cooperating attorney in this particular case, and to represent Zachary Guiles. Mr. Saltonstall was joined by David Williams, an attorney with the firm of Sleigh & Williams in St. Johnsbury.
Mr. Saltonstall and Mr. Williams filed a complaint in U.S. District Court on Zachary’s behalf against the school. (Read the complaint.) A complaint is often referred to as a “lawsuit,” and the term “to sue” describes the action of filing a lawsuit in court. Zachary’s lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Burlington because the case involved rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. U.S. District Court is a federal court, and decides federal cases. (State courts decide cases that involve state law, or rights guaranteed by a state constitution.)
Once a complaint is filed, the attorneys are able to make various requests and to investigate further the facts of the case. A judge is assigned to the case, and a date for a trial is set. Many cases do not go to trial. Instead, a settlement both sides agree to is reached.
Zachary Guiles’ complaint, however, did go to trial. The trial was held in August and September 2004 before U.S. District Court Judge William K. Sessions III. The trial lasted four days. A number of people testified, including education experts who were questioned about how problems in schools are handled and how student free speech rights are protected.
Judge Sessions issued his decision in December 2004. He ruled that Zachary’s free speech rights covered the written words on the T-shirt, even those words describing the drug problems the president supposedly had as a young man. However, the judge said that those rights did not cover the pictures on the T-shirt. The school`s policy against drug images of any type allowed it to censor that part of Zachary’s shirt, he said. (Read Judge Sessions' decision.)
Zachary and the ACLU disagreed with Judge Sessions’ ruling. We decided to appeal the case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. (For federal appeals court purposes, the country is divided into different regions or “circuits.” Vermont is in the Second Circuit. The Second Circuit Courthouse is located in New York City.)
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