A seventh grader at Vanguard, Jaiden Rodriguez, claimed his First Amendment right to free speech was violated when he was required to remove multiple patches. On Tuesday, August 29, Jaiden was pulled out of class for patches that contained the Gadsden flag and semi-automatic weapons. He removed all the patches except one.
This seventh grader was told that he could not have the Gadsden flag patch on his bag because of its “origins with slavery and slave trade,” and because “the patches are disruptive to the classroom environment” according to Vanguard vice principal, Beth Danjuma. Jaiden continued to refuse to remove the patch.
According to Jaiden, “kids were really hyped up. They are putting ‘don’t tread on me’ on their locker. Now they like me all of the sudden,” Jaiden Rodriguez said.
The same day that Jaiden went to the office, his mother, Eden Rodriguez, met with the administrators and her son. In a recorded conversation with Beth Danjuma, Jaiden’s mother advocated for him, claiming she stood up for their First Amendment right to free speech.
Eden Rodriguez posted a video clip of the recorded conversation of the meeting on Twitter, and Facebook which received over five million views.
In response to the issue, Colorado Governor Jared Polis on a Facebook post about the Gadsden flag: “It appears on popular American medallions and challenge coins through today and Ben Franklin also adopted it to symbolize the union of the 13 colonies.”
The school board held an emergency meeting, and by the end of the day they changed their policy. Jaiden was allowed to keep the Gadsden flag patch on his bag, as long as it is not disturbing the class environment.
He expressed with confidence that he knew his right to free speech and he stuck by them, knowing that he could have these patches on his bag.
But not everybody agrees with Jaiden’s crusade against political censorship. For some people his wearing the flag is just a matter of respect. Others argue that the dress code should be content neutral and discourage political speech.
Vanguard’s dress code states that if the uniform policy is not followed, there will be consequences. However, the dress code policy does not clearly state anything about patches on a school backpack.
After Jaiden and his family won their dispute with the school, they now have filed a lawsuit against the school, school officials, and Harrison School District. The family is represented by the Mountain States Legal Foundation located in Denver, Colorado.
According to the Mountain States Legal Foundation press release, “the district has threatened to ban [wearing the Gadsden flag] again ‘as soon as anyone, including school officials, ‘complains.’”
The lawsuit alleges that simply the threat of reinforcement of the flag ban poses a threat of censorship of free speech.
