Joe Jarosz
Northeast News
Dec. 26, 2014

KANSAS CITY, Missouri — The American Civil Liberties Union is fighting for several Lincoln College Preparatory Academy students.
This past November, while Missouri Governor Jay Nixon paid a visit to congratulate Lincoln College Prep on its latest award, 14 students in the line of sight of Gov. Nixon, stood up from their seats and raised their hands over their head, silently protesting the police shooting in Ferguson, Mo. The students were escorted out of the assembly by a faculty member. The students were first told they would receive a 10-day suspension, before the district settled on a single Saturday detention, to be served on a Saturday, Jan. 10.

On Monday, Dec. 22, the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri filed a civil rights lawsuit against the Kansas City School District, because the district violated a student’s First Amendment rights. The suit asks the court to stop punishing the student for participating in a protest. The ACLU filed the suit on behalf of Karen Morrison, whose daughter — identified only as “M.M.” in court paperwork — attends Lincoln Prep.

Tony Rothert, legal director of the ACLU of Missouri, said in a press release that the students were exercising their constitutional rights by expressing the message that they stood in solidarity with other protesters across Missouri and the country after the death of Michael Brown. Sarah Rossi, the ACLU of Missouri’s director of advocacy and policy, added school administrators cannot punish students for communications they think will bring negative attention to the school.

“The school should be proud to have taught their students to be confident in their right to express themselves to the Governor,” Rothert said.
According to a statement from the KCPS, the district was notified of litigation from the ACLU late in the afternoon on Monday, Dec. 22. KCPS administrators will not comment on pending litigation.

Ray Weikal, public relations and marketing coordinator for the KCPS, reiterated that the students were instructed to sit down by an administrator, but refused. It is for this refusal, students are facing discipline in accordance with the district’s Code of Conduct.

“No student will be, or was disciplined, for exercising their rights to free expression,” Weikal said.

The complaint can be found at http://www.aclu-mo.org/files/8914/1926/9444/001_-_Complaint.pdf.