Kate Deal's Brief Quoted in First Amendment Case
Philadelphia partner Kate Deal wrote a brief for the Keep a Breast Foundation which played an important role in the Third Circuit's en banc decision, upholding the First Amendment rights of junior high schoolers to raise breast cancer awareness by wearing "I ♥ boobies (KEEP A BREAST)" bracelets to school. K.M. and B.H v. Easton Area School District, No. 11-2067 (3d Cir. Aug. 5, 2013) (en banc).
The full court undertook to clarify the law in a difficult area, holding that speech that does not rise to the level of plainly lewd and that could plausibly be interpreted as commenting on political or social issues is protected, and the bracelets met these tests. Our former partner, Mary Catherine Roper of the ACLU of Pennsylvania, briefed and argued the case brilliantly for the school children. Kate's amicus brief figured in the court's account of the origins and aims of the Foundation and its bracelets.
To read about the case, click here.
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