How a First-Grader Taught Her School District and a Federal Judge about Free Speech

Below is my column in The Hill on the recent significant victory for free speech out of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. It is a story of how this little first-grade girl schooled her principal and a federal judge on the essence of free speech.

Here is the column:

In March 2021, California principal Jesus Becerra was confronted by a clear and present threat to his school.

Standing before him was the culprit — a student apparently so dangerous that Becerra had to act without delay to protect the entire Viejo Elementary School in the Capistrano Unified School District.

The little girl is known only as B.B. in federal filings, but her actions were so heinous that a parent alerted Becerra to take whatever action was necessary.

Beccera showed B.B. the incriminating evidence: a picture of children with the words “any life” written under “Black Lives Matter.”

Confronting the little girl, Becerra allegedly called the paper “racist.” He told her that she would need to apologize for the outrageous statement. (Becerra denies using the word “racist.”). Her family alleges that she was also suspended from recess for two weeks, apparently to consider her failures as a human being.

That single piece of paper has since prompted years of litigation, in which California educators fought for the right to punish this child for a picture given to a friend. And if that seems outrageous, you do not even know the worst of it.

B.B. had just sat through a book reading about Martin Luther King. It ended with “Black Lives Matter,” an expression that she had never previously heard. She felt bad that black people in the book were shown as being treated differently and unfairly. She decided to draw a picture of her friends holding hands under those words with the addition of “any life.” She gave the picture to one of those friends, a girl known in the litigation as M.C.

Throughout history, friends have given each other such notes and pictures without incident. But in these times, an array of adults felt the need to intervene, to make sure the girls understood that this innocent act was actually a despicable act of latent racism.

When M.C. brought the picture home, her mother was upset. M.C. is the only black student in the class and B.B. is white. She wrote to Becerra to object that “while we can appreciate the sentiment of Black Lives Matter, my husband and I do not trust the place ‘any life’ is coming from.” She did not want this to become a “larger issue” but asked Becerra to take the “actions that need to be taken to address the issue.”

Becerra allegedly demanded that B.B apologize and then suspended her from recess. B.B. did not tell her mother, Chelsea Boyle, about the incident or the alleged punishment for eleven months. But then the family moved to address the matter. They faced an array of administrators and lawyers who fought them at every stage. The school denied that the punishment had even happened, asserting that “the weight of evidence” did not support the claim that the little girl had been punished in any way.

Ultimately, the case made its way before federal District Court Judge David Carter, a Bill Clinton appointee. The school demanded summary judgment. Even though a court at that stage must assume all disputed facts in the most favorable way for the nonmoving party (B.B. in this case), Carter held that she could indeed be punished for writing those two words, “any life.”

Judge Carter declared that B.B.’s drawing was “not protected under the First Amendment” and that teachers like Becerra “are far better equipped than federal courts at identifying when speech crosses the line from harmless banter to impermissible harassment.” Besides, Carter added, “the downsides of regulating speech there is not as significant as it is in high schools, where students are approaching voting age and controversial speech could spark conducive conversation.”

In Judge Carter’s world, there is little danger that elementary students are likely to develop a taste for free speech, let alone contemplate its use. (Judge Carter had shown equally dismissive views of free speech in a controversial ruling related to the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot.)

And so B.B. apparently got what she deserved as a little harasser, roaming the halls of Viejo Elementary School with her hateful box of crayons.

Fortunately, however, with the help of the Pacific Legal Foundation, the parents appealed Judge Carter’s chilling opinion. Last week, they won a major free speech victory before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

In 1969, the Supreme Court famously declared that students do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.” However, since that iconic case, federal courts have often given short shrift to the free speech rights of students.

Teachers around the country have become notorious as speech commissars who bar expressions deemed divisive or intolerant. That often includes any conservative or religious speech.

An elementary school in Kansas came under fire recently after Arbor Creek Elementary Principal Melissa Snell stopped the wearing of shirts reading “Freedom,” which became popular after the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

In another case, U.S. District Court Judge Christopher Boyko ruled in Ohio that students could be barred from wearing “Let’s Go Brandon” shirts — a coded political expression criticizing the media and former President Joe Biden. Other courts have also upheld such censorship by teachers, who claim that the expression is a substitute for a vulgar expression chanted by crowds (“F— Joe Biden”). But these shirts do not contain vulgarity. Rather, the expression is used as a defiant reference to the media bias that led to the original substitution of the words, allegedly to protect Biden — it is a “Yankee Doodling” of the political and media establishment.

In these cases, judges also wrote opinions upholding the arbitrary censorship of words by school administrators, who often show greater tolerance for progressive political expression.

In this case, however, the Ninth Circuit broke from these ranks in defending this little girl.

The panel (composed of Judges Consuelo Callahan, a George W. Bush appointee, and Roopali Desai and Ana de Alba, Biden appointees) ruled that just being in elementary school does not mean that B.B. has no meaningful free speech rights. A school, they found, “may restrict students’ speech only when the restriction is reasonably necessary to protect the safety and well-being of its students.”

B.B. will now have the opportunity denied by Judge Carter: to prove that giving a friend a picture celebrating all lives is not a threat to “the safety and well-being” of the entire Viejo Elementary School. Ironically, the school has taught its students an invaluable lesson: They have the right to speak and should never allow others to silence them arbitrarily. This first-grader prevailed over administrators, teachers, lawyers, and a federal judge who saw little “downside” in censoring her.

I doubt it is a lesson that will take. Perhaps the girl, by now probably a middle schooler, should draw a picture of Principal Becerra, Judge Carter, and others holding hands with the expression, “We all can speak.”

Jonathan Turley is a law professor and the best-selling author of “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution.”

225 thoughts on “How a First-Grader Taught Her School District and a Federal Judge about Free Speech”

  1. For several decades the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that students (citizens) have a First Amendment right to wear a political or religious tee shirt, jewelry, etc. unless a public school has a uniform policy where everyone wears the same outfits.

    A public school teacher, principle or school board member is a government employee. The purpose of the First Amendment is RESTRAIN government authority infringing on the free speech of the citizen (student).

    So the First Amendment places few restrictions on the citizens/students but does strongly restrain public school officials from violating those rights.

  2. Sacramento Kings announcer Grant Napier was fired for saying “All lives matter” Napear was fired in 2020 after tweeting “ALL LIVES MATTER…EVERY SINGLE ONE!!!” in response to a question about the Black Lives Matter movement.
    –His termination was viewed as a response to the backlash from his tweet during a politically charged time following George Floyd’s death.-

  3. The Democrats Modus Operandi, Punish the offender. I can hear it now: well she’s just a little girl, what’s the worst discipline we can administer, stand in the corner, Nah, let’s have her sit in the classroom while the other children play. Doesn’t that sound persuasive (isolation away from peers), or is it likely picayunish (trivial/petty/vile). Oh so many FOOLs occupy the Lefts Totem Pole that is being charred by the fire of the brimstone, the Sulfuric smell is overwhelming. Censuring children with fervid (burning) emotions.

    Oh Grand Ma what big ears you have.

    The lesson from Aesop’s ‘The Frog and the Mouse’
    “Those who seek to harm others often come to harm themselves through their own deceit”.

  4. (OT — from an ongoing subthread)

    The Left is crowing because a Trump administration official resigned over a policy dispute, with the claim that Iran does not pose a clear and present threat to the U.S. (Therefore, allegedly, there is no justification for the war.)

    To those who appease evil, “clear” means your country’s name is on a tombstone. And “present” means yesterday.

    Some have learned nothing from the sordid history of such appeasements throughout the 20th century.

    1. Sam: Thank you.
      May I respectfully add the following to counter the media’s overwhelming headlines enthusiastically reporting his resignation as anti-Trump, rather than considering that it might have anti-war foundation.
      https://www.facebook.com/NBCNews/posts/opinion-joe-kent-my-wife-died-fighting-isis-under-president-trumps-orders-how-he/4689150107771649/
      https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/trump-came-dover-after-my-wife-was-killed-fighting-isis-ncna1239425

    2. Sam, If the ‘sordid history of the 20th century’ taught you that the best way to avoid a tombstone is to start a war your own Counterterrorism Chief says is unjustified, you might want to ask for a refund on those history books.

      Trump is currently begging NATO to help him out with the strait of Hormuz problem. They are rightfully giving him the middle finger. He spent all of last year saying how NATO is not needed and how useless it is. The moron is now throwing a fit over the fact nobody is answering his calls for help.

      1. X the requirements for a just war are:

        Just Cause The reason for going to war must be just, such as self-defense or protecting the innocent.
        Right Intention The intention behind the war should be to promote good and avoid evil, not for revenge.
        Last Resort All other options must be exhausted before resorting to war.
        Reasonable Hope of Success There must be a reasonable chance of achieving the intended outcome to avoid futile conflict.
        Discrimination Non-combatants should not be intentionally targeted; efforts must be made to protect them.
        Proportionality The benefits of the military action must outweigh the harm caused, ensuring a balance.

        All of these are met. So what are you talking about ?

        Regardless, those of you on the left had no problem bombing the crap out of most of the rest of the mideast for the past 20 years.
        Why are you suffering massive TDS over assuring hopefully for decades that Iran does not get nuclear weapons, precluding Iran from lobbing drones and missles at neighbors with which they are at peace, precluding Iran from sponsoring Terrorism all over the mideast and the world.
        And for bonus points – maybe we will get rid of one of the most vile regimes on earth.

        If you wish to debate whether the conflict with Iran is clearnly in the US interests – lets have that debate.
        But beyond any doubt it is in the interests of Israel and the arab nations of the mideast, as well as all the waffling left wing nuts in Europe.
        Long before Iran nukes the US – it will have nuked Israel, other arab states and then Europe.
        Iran is far more likely to nuke Europe should it get the weapons to do so than Putin.

        Regardless, I would be happy to have a real debate about the merits of this conflict.
        Though frankly a great deal depends on success – one of the requirements for a “just war” is a reasonable hope of success.

        If Trump does not leave Iran, or leaves with Iran still likely to threaten the peace and stability of the mid east withing the next 5 years – then this conflict will have been a failure.
        Any success beyond that will be a win for the world, the mideast, Europe, the US and Trump.

        Should we have done this ? That is debatable. Should someone have done this ? Without any doubt.

        “Trump is currently begging NATO to help him out”
        No, he is chastizing Europe – and having fun doing so.
        The oil trapped in the gulf is headed for China, and Europe – not the US. The US is a net exporter of oil, further we have more than we could possibly need from sources in the western hemisphere.

        Again to the extent there is a debate, it is Why is Iran the US’s problem ? Why isnt Europe involved ? Increasingly the mideast is NOT a national security interest of the US.
        But it absolutely is a major national security interest of Europe.

        “with the strait of Hormuz problem.”
        The straight of Hormuz problem is not a US problem.

        “They are rightfully giving him the middle finger.”
        So What ?
        I have no idea what Trump will do. But one thing he CAN do, is say screw china, Screw Europe, The straight can remain closed until we are done.
        Sunday I filled my tank – $3.05 and I forgot to use my loyalty card so I over paid by a few cents gallon.

        “He spent all of last year saying how NATO is not needed and how useless it is.”
        And right now, he is proving that.
        Europe can not even take care of itself and its own interests.

        Those of you on the left keep pointing out that higher oil prices benefit Russia – but miss that on Net, Russia is a big loser in this conflict – as is China.

        Suposed state of the art russian and chinese anti-aircraft systems have proven useless is Venezeulla and Iran. Russian and Chinese armorments sales are down 20% and dropping.
        Xi has stopped sabre Rattling with Taiwan – likely for many reasons, but one of those is that he is seeing in Iran what two US Aircraft carriers can do.
        So far the only US and Israeli losses are to “friendly fire”. Has Iran even attempted to hit a US Warship ? Have they managed to get any of their airforce off the ground ?

        Ukraine has managed to sink 75% of the Russian Black Sea Fleet – Most of which is the state of Russian Art in naval warfare. Iran has not touched a US warship.

        The US is getting ready to Scrap the USS Nimitz. The Nimitz is 50 years old and WAY superior to anything else in the world – and we are scrapping it.
        Starmer should be Begging Trump to let the UK have it as it is far Superior to the UK’s two broke QE class carriers, that do not even have catapults
        The Forrestal class – which have long ago been retired and were last built in 1968 are superior to anything any other nation on earth has.

        Is there another navy in the word with anything as capable as an Arleigh-Burke class destroyer ?

        The entire combined forces of NATO are incapable of half of what the US is doing right now. Europe has 50% more people than the US, and yet the UK can not even protect their own forces at Cypress.

        Trump is not begging for help – he is pointing out to the Europeans how weak they are.

        ” The moron is now throwing a fit over the fact nobody is answering his calls for help.”
        Your blind – they are not answering – because they CANT.

        The US has put 3 multibillion dollar supercarriers at risk as well have possibly 100 destroyers and similar warships – and not one has been dinged.

        The UK has two carriers – which are trapped in refits – because they screwed up the propeller shaft design.
        Europe is not sending anything – because they have nothing to send, and what little they have is not capable of any defending themselves.
        Europe is not sending anything – because the loss of face if the Iranians took out a european warship while unable to touch a US warship would be a political disaster.

        Trump is haranguing Europe – not because he actually expects of needs help now. But because he is telling Europe – Next time something like this needs to be done,
        europe may be on their own.

        Back to Russia. Russia gets 40% of its munitions from Iran – or it did in 2025.
        Far more important that the higher price Russia is getting for what little oil they can sell,
        is that Removing Iran from the board – even just tying them up defending themselves, laters the balance in the ar of attrition in Ukraine.

        Russia is running short on everything, and they have actually lost 80 sq. miles of territory more recently – not alot, but the war is starting to go in the wrong direction for Russia.
        Trump has done that – without actually provoking Russia. Just by severing their supply lines.

        As to Russia getting more for their oil – The US started confiscating Russian shadow fleet Ships arround Venezeula and Cuba.
        But now other nations are joining – the Swedes just confiscated a russian cargo ship. The entire Russian shadow fleet could disappear int he next two months.
        Then how is Russia going to sell its oil ?

        1. It looks like the insane John Say has returned after several days of absence.

          I had been hoping that he had finally been involuntarily committed to an institution to treat his profound mental illness.

          I guess we just have to keep hoping.

      1. Don’t you think it’s only buying time, omfk? Isn’t the entire middle east totalitarian? Contrast with free will and reason? Why do they migrate here? For the economics?

        Immigrants from totalitarian nations seeking asylum would throw off what they’ve left? We aren’t seeing that are we?

        1. The only consequential democracy in the Mideast is Israel. But Iran is by far the worst actor in the mideast. Replacing them will make the world better adn more peaceful.

      2. Soon, a Muslim will be elected president. Of course that’ll be the 2nd after Obama. All support of Israel will stop. That’ll be that? The failure was in designating Islam as a religion and not as a totalitarian political system adverse to freedom, free will and reason.

        Carpe diem

        1. To whom will the greatest military be an inheritance. Do you ever ponder that?

          So very bizarre and transparent it is.

      3. OldManFromKS,
        It is not the short term that we need to focus on. It is the long term. Iran supplied 20% of the worlds oil of which, 80% went to Asia, i.e. China. You would not of seen it in MSM, but China was at one point calling for a cease fire, offering to negotiate some kind of talks, any kind of talks. Every time any Iran oil facilities get destroyed, that is that much less oil capacity that is off line and could be for just a year but years to rebuild. The entire energy markets are changing. UAE was one of the biggest LNG suppliers. They are currently off line. I believe Qutar is too. The EU used to get a lot of LNG from the Mid-East. Now, who will they have to buy from? Some of the largest producers is the US and Russia.
        Amateurs study tactics.
        Professionals study logistics.
        The long term energy logistics is going to change the geo-political landscape for years if not decades.

  5. The famous quote:
    “The test of first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind and still retain the ability to function”

    The student was correct, the teacher was wrong, the district judge was wrong on the First Amendment. But the “Black Lives Matter” issue was also valid about unequal treatment by police (ie: driving-while-black, walking-while-black, shopping-while-black, etc.

    The intention behind BLM was very noble about many times fatal police encounters based purely on appearance, but maybe it could have been named better.

    BLM movement was never intended to disrespect police or anyone else. It supported constitutional policing, which every police officer in America swears an oath of office to NOT violate constitutional rights. BLM was never intended to defund “constitutional” police practices, only defund “unconstitutional” police practices. Some BLM supporters forgot to include “unconstitutional” police practices and wrongly said defund all police which helped Democrats lose elections.

    In 2014 the U.S. Department of Justice published the “Ferguson Report” about unconstitutional practices by police and city officials in Ferguson, Missouri (available free online on DOJ’s website).

    Even today, the vast majority of police chiefs refuse to publicly document “constitutional” searches (with judicial-warrants) versus “unconstitutional” searches (without judicial-warrants) then document the number of convictions for each type of search. This documentation would focus most police police resources on cases with probable cause evidence (approved by judges) and reduce the crime rate – since most resources were directed towards evidence based suspects. But in 2026, almost no police departments do this and allow voters to see the results.

  6. . . . the expression [Let’s Go Brandon] is used as a defiant reference to the media bias that led to the original substitution of the words.

    Sometimes life accidentally dishes up a deliciously ironic plate of words that fit perfectly. Another example is the fraudulent Somali daycare in Minneapolis that misspelled “learning” and put up a sign saying Quality Learing Center.

    I wonder whether perhaps an empty, fraudulent dacare with no kids is better than one where kids are leered at by creepy adults?

  7. “She did not want this to become a “larger issue” but asked Becerra to take the “actions that need to be taken to address the issue.”

    Yes she did want it to be a larger issue.

    It’s time to stop pandering and bowing to the exquisitely heightened sensibilities of various ethnic groups. Grow up.

    On another note, Turley : “In 1969, the Supreme Court famously declared that students do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.”

    That is the Tinker case and it sets a clear standard protecting free speech by the highest court.

    Yet, as in this appalling case, district courts almost regularly now spit in the face of the supreme legal authority in the land. This is not even an instance of fine legal analysis coming to a different conclusion; it is open and blatant defiance by an inferior court that is incapable of embarrassment or shame, the only restraints likely to be imposed.

    Roberts has much to answer for in the open rebellion of the lower courts. He wanted to protect the reputation of the judiciary but he has allowed it to be politicised and sullied.

    I believe, with Professor Shapiro, that the law schools, imbued with critical legal theory, are also at fault for grinding out inferior products who become judges. I sometimes wonder if just reading Blackstone and working with experienced lawyers didn’t produce better lawyers.

  8. More chum for the MAGA crowd–trying to make a big deal about a tempest in a teapot, and stirring up racist hatred over a mishandled matter. Meanwhile in news that is really important, Trump’s counterterrorism head, Joe Kent, resigned because he cannot support the Trump war vs. Iran, saying:

    “Early in this administration, high-ranking Israeli officials and influential members of the American media deployed a misinformation campaign that wholly undermined your America First platform and sowed pro-war sentiments to encourage a war with Iran. This echo chamber was used to deceive you into believing that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States, and that should you strike now, there was a clear path to a swift victory. This was a lie and is the same tactics the Israelis used to draw us into the disastrous Iraq war that cost the nation the lives of thousands of our best men and women.”

    Kent also said: “Kent has said that Iran posed no imminent threat to “our nation”, and it was clear that the United States started this war due to “pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.” Pressure, no doubt, driven by campaign contributions.

    Of course, Speaker Johnson denied these facts, even though members of Congress who have been briefed on the matter have all said no evidence of any clear threat to the US was shown. Last June, Trump said that he “totally and completely obliterated” Iran’s nuclear enrichment program, but now, suddenly, they were on the verge of nuking us. In other Trump lie news: he claimed that he spoke with a “former President”, who allegedly complimented him on starting a war with Iran and that he wished he had done so. Media outlets contacted the spokespersons for all living former Presidents, each of whom denied that such a conversation took place.

    Cuba is experiencing a total failure of their power grid. Trump made the amazing statement that he could simply invade Cuba and take it over–saying “I can do whatever I want.”

    Gee, Turley, what would Jemmy say about all of this?

      1. Gigi shows up every day with her 10,000-word diatribes that nobody reads. Every single one starts with “More MAGA chum by Professor Turley” and every other word is MAGA. MAGA MAGA MAGA blah blah blah. Gigi is sick in the head.

          1. no, no,no.
            gigi has relevant MINIONs, apparently even you, and any one else who supports her garbage hatred. Actually, I don;t see any minions who think gigi has a brain and follow her.

  9. It seems likely B.B. will vote Republican when she grows up. Possibly even be a conservative activist. And that’s a shame, not because I have any objection to Republican voters or conservative activists, but because of how they damaged B.B.’s childhood. These demented public school employees corrupt little children’s souls by making everything political. At that young age, children should just be able to enjoy the beauty of life, friendship, music, art, and literature, withoug deranged left-wing adults turning them into policial pawns. This is just sickening.

    1. And no, B.B.’s parents are not at fault in this. They stood up for B.B.’s rights, which were severely violated by others on some stupid imagined political basis. They did the right thing.

    2. OldManFromKS,
      It is not just B.B.
      Think of all those young, high school women who are having medals, scholarship opportunities taken from them by the biological males in women’s sports.

  10. The Left ruins everything it touches. Leftist ideology is a clear and present danger to childhood. Not only with incidents like this, but with child sexual mutilation, and putting boys in middle- and high-school girls’ locker rooms.

      1. Arguments based on “you’re one sentence away” or “next you’ll be saying X” are rarely convincing. Try dealing with what I actually said. Or is that too difficult for you?

        1. The fact is old man you have a pathological hate for anyone who dares criticize your bizarre analysis of events. And not worth exchanging opinions with.

          1. You have no answer, so you fall back on “you’re not worth exchanging opinions with.” Lame. Enjoy the rest of your day.

              1. Against anonimi Oldman never loses. Anonimi are like Jellyfish; no backbone and almost no substance.

                1. Thanks Meyer. The difference between anonimi and jellyfish is that jellyfish actually sting, whereas anonimi only think they do.

                2. Meyer

                  As I have previously noted and documented, you display an extraordinarily tenuous grasp of the English language.
                  This time I note your attempted use of the word “anonimi”, which does not actually exist.

                  “Anonymous” is not a noun. It is an adjective. It cannot be pluralized. In the context of this blog, the word “Anonymous” is used as an adjective to describe the nature of the COMMENT. The term simply DESCRIBES the nature of the comment as being anonymous, in the correct grammatical use of adjectives as descriptive words. It does not affix the term “Anonymous” as a pseudonymous name for the author.

                  Even if “anonymous” was a noun that could be pluralized, the supposed plural form you attempted to create might possibly be “anonimi”, but that would be a misspelling. Where is the “y”? If “anonymous” could be pluralized in the false way you suggest, then it would be “anonymi” not “anonimi”.

                  So not only did you use faulty grammar to create a word that doesn’t actually exist, you can’t even spell it correctly. You actually manage to misspell words that don’t even exist. That is breathtaking incompetence and simply demonstrates your exceedingly poor language skills. Every time you post a comment it becomes more and more obvious that English is your second or even third language. Of course, the mindless nature of your comments, in addition to the gross grammatical errors lends further evidence to my hypothesis that you are in reality an extremely poorly trained bot from some Eastern European country.

                  For the record, the correct term for one who can be described as being anonymous is the noun “anonym”, and therefore the plural form of “anonym” is “anonyms”.

                  I also note your use of the insult “jellyfish”.
                  At least this is a new insult, other than the alcoholism insult that you have beaten to death over the years of your stupid comments here.

                  To extend your use of the “jellyfish” insult, I hope you do not find my remarks to be too “stinging”.

                  1. ‘Use of the word “anonimi”, which does not actually exist.’

                    But, Sigmund the Fraud, you got the meaning, which is what communication is all about. While anonymi is not in your dictionary, it is a common enough usage that even your mind understood it. There is a common understanding that the veracity of a statement should never be undermined by the mechanics of the delivery.
                    Your reliance on grandiloquence, bombast, and pomposity is a throw-away, especially since you rely so steadily on your foremost form of conversation: self- admitted, bombastic mendacity.

                    1. S. Meyer,
                      Notice when the Jellyfish has nothing else to win an argument on, has to fall back on the use of language or grammar as if that wins the Jellyfish’s argument. Like, that means anything.

                    2. My, my, my, or perhaps Meyer, Meyer, Meyer would be more appropriate.

                      Astonishingly, you continue to stumble about in your abusive use of the English language.
                      Every comment you post simply reinforces the observation that your grasp of the English language is so minimal as to be almost non-existent.

                      You claim that the “veracity” of your statement is not undermined by the mechanics of its delivery.
                      Let’s look at your statement in question. You likened a critic of the oldman to a jellyfish.
                      Now let’s look at the definition of “veracity”.
                      Veracity: conformity with truth or fact : accuracy : devotion to the truth : truthfulness : power of conveying or perceiving truth : something true.

                      Clearly the critic of the oldman cannot be accurately and truthfully described with veracity as a jellyfish. Jellyfish have no brain to formulate thoughts, no appendages with which to type, and no knowledge of the English language. So how can the critic be a jellyfish? Even if a jellyfish could actually type and had access to a computer and an internet connection under water, it would obviously be electrocuted by the attempt to post a response.
                      Clearly the veracity of your statement absolutely undermines the mechanics of its delivery. There is no veracity associated with your statement, therefore its delivery is completely pointless and without meaning.

                      As I noted above, one of the many ways in which the veracity of your statement fails is that jellyfish lack knowledge of the English language.
                      Since you consistently display a minimal and tenuous grasp of the English language, we might reasonably surmise that you are in fact a jellyfish, albeit a slightly more evolved jellyfish that has some rudimentary knowledge of the language.

                3. S. Meyer,
                  Well said. I like the Jellyfish analogy. I think I am going to keep it, and credit you in the future when referencing the Jellyfish.

  11. Public schools, and the Marxist teachers’ unions that they enable, have been the most heinous ongoing threat to the Republic for most of its history. For at least the past 100 years, they have been little more than public indoctrination academies.

  12. As Lin aptly points out, this whole thing could of, and likely should of, been handled better.
    Rather than apply a degree of common sense, logic and reason, sitting down with the parents, perhaps the children, the principal went to the virtue signaling and applied the punishment to B.B. Does she even understand what she supposedly did wrong?
    Or is this another example of leftist dogma that a six year old knows and understands what even BLM, the civil rights era, whom Dr. MLK was and the significance of his “I have a dream,” speech and more importantly the key line in his speech, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be
    judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” just like a six year old knows and understands what biological sex is and gender?
    The fact that one set of parents were kept in the dark on the matter, the fact their child was punished is appalling. Seems public schools are no longer as transparent as they once used to be.
    I wonder why that is?

    1. Handled better? I venture to say, lin or you have ever been employed in education. At best, you both squeaked thru grade school – it shows in your comment.
      And just because you were notoriously stupid at 6, does not mean today’s are dumber than you at 74.

      Lastly, no where does Turley state her parents were kept in the dark. Have someone with a grade school education read the article to you again.

      1. Lastly, no where does Turley state her parents were kept in the dark. Have someone with a grade school education read the article to you again.

        Professor Turley says:

        Becerra allegedly demanded that B.B apologize and then suspended her from recess. B.B. did not tell her mother, Chelsea Boyle, about the incident or the alleged punishment for eleven months.

        Doesn’t that mean the parents were kept in the dark. If they already knew, then there would be nothing for B.B. to tell eleven months later.

        1. So semantics you want eh? So the girl did not tell her mother, and so what? You are 100% convinced based on your quoted text that “did not tell her .. unequivocally means “KEPT in the dark” implies” that the 6 y/o girl had the presence of mind to willingly or not, maybe or not, under some form of threat or intimidation from the teacher to decide not say anything about the 1st A non-event? Sorry ole timer, semantics is not your game, go back to solitaire.

          1. ^^^ you’re attacking a commenter and the attack is nonsense. If you’re into hatred today please express the reason. Hate senior people or men perhaps? Hatred for white people or white children?

          2. So if I understand you correctly, you’re conceding that the school did not tell a first-grader’s parents about the punishment they meted out against that first-grader, and your sole contention is that that does not amount to “keeping the parents in the dark.” Is that right?

  13. I love headlines…

    “Trump Finds Out That After Insulting Allies Forever, They Don’t Feel Like Helping Him”

  14. Well this is California after all, the melting pot of the most ignorant among us cast as competent supermen. They are phoning it in because they are indoctrinators, not educators. I laugh at the teachers strike in California: They don’t get that:
    A: we are #47 in educational outcomes, and they are demanding raises.
    B: the money has been stolen.
    California will not be happy until they are in last place!

  15. It seems irrefutable that B.B. and M.C. were friends.
    How unfortunate that this budding friendship will likely be tainted heretofore.

    It is the resentment, hatred, and bitterness of the parents (begotten of THEIR parents) that they imbue in our younger generations.
    It would have been nice for Becerra to invite both sets of parents in, with or without the two friends, to discuss together how to build lasting friendships and mutual understanding. It could have ended right there.

    1. Lin,
      What you are describing is common sense, logic, reason.
      It appears the principal lacked those traits and went straight to the emotions based “racists!” place. And then denied his form of punishment.

    2. /\ in The problem is that M.C.’s parents interpreted two innocent words by an even more innocent child as a racist comment. They should have been happy to have someone share that thought with their child as it shows a non racist mind. Now the little girl will have this hanging over her head that she has to be careful or she will be branded a racist. It also presents to the innocent M.C. that she needs to be suspicious of other people and their comments.
      It is also strange to me that in today’s mixed ethnic families this kind of action is even thought of much less the penalizing and innocent child.

    3. That would be wasting BB’s parents time and life. There’s nothing wrong with the principle–> all life matters.

    1. No, absolutely none at all even though the district’s investigation had evidence of him (in writing) saying it never happened.

  16. Joe Kent, who was appointed by Trump as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, resigned on Tuesday out of protest over the U.S. war against Iran, marking the president’s first major rebuke on the conflict from a member of his administration.

    “After much reflection, I have decided to resign from my position as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, effective today,” Kent wrote Tuesday in a statement shared on social media.

    “I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”

    The Director of the National Counterterrorism Center is in the perfect position to know what is actually going on with this war, and why it was started.
    And he admits what everybody else with at least 2 brain cells to rub together already knew.
    Israel and Netanyahu bamboozled the demented Trump into starting an unnecessary war.

    1. Let’s see. Iran very close to an atomic bomb with international ballistic missile capability is not a threat to both its neighbors and America. Iran time and time again has attacked both American and their neighboring Arab states. Is this guy so naive as to think that Iran would not use a nuclear bomb if they had its possession when 99 virgins are waiting in heaven.
      American intelligence knew that Hitler was close to a nuclear bomb because they figured out the German codes when they learned how the Enigma machine worked. This guy knows the extent of American intelligence today that is capable of code breaking. The only explanation is that somebody somewhere has some dirt on this guy.

      1. Your belief in something does not make it true.
        Last June trump “Obliterated” Irans nuclear program. His words, Obliterated.
        So now 9 months later they are back at work? Get a life.

        Do you think killing over 100 school girls with a missile, then blaming them for the killing might just piss off about the whole country and want to take revenge on those that did killing?

        IMHO, History will treat this fiasco very badly, trump will go down as the most incompetent president in our history and the Republican Senators and Congressman who supported this idiot will also be forever tainted with their subservience to a mad man. Time will tell.

        The Republican Party is dead Good luck winning future national elections.

    2. Kent is an Army veteran.
      from “Wiki”
      “In January 2019, Kent’s wife Shannon [also serving in the military] was killed in a suicide bombing in Manbij, Syria. He became involved in political advocacy after Shannon’s death.”

      I suspect his resignation may be related to this.
      Why do you constantly post off-topic comments intending to discredit Trump?

    3. We get it. No facts will ever dissuade your psychotic hatred of Trump, or your mindless anti-Semitism, or your equally-psychotic hatred of Netanyahu.
      You can easily be refuted on every piece of excrement you post.
      Trump had been consistent for over 40 years in his opinions about the threats Iran posed to Americans.
      You really should learn to just STFU and stop humiliating yourself like this, since none of your uneducated bubble even reads Professor Turley’s columns and books, and nobody with a brain will ever believe anything you say. 🙂

      https://www.newsweek.com/trump-kharg-island-iran-hormuz-strait-11678474

    4. You forgot Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has a microvagina that is only 3 inches long:

      “I wholeheartedly support Megyn Kelly telling the world that Mark Levin has a micropenis. It’s the most deserved insult, and I don’t care if it’s vulgar.”

      “And Trump’s gigantic defense of Levin only enraged the base more. People are DONE. MAGA destroyed by micropenis Mark Levin.”

      – Marjorie Taylor Greene, The Hill

  17. Professor… today’s report is ripe with sarcasm. Question: What took so long?! Keep up with this effort, please. It’s a pleasure to read. -JAFO

    1. In the paragraph about the Let’s Go Brandon t-shirt, Prof. Turley temporarily dropped the sarcasm and gave a cogent and concise explanation of Yankee Doodling. However in that case, the judge upheld the censorship and no amount of sarcasm will aid in reversing that injustice.

  18. You can rest assured that if a Palestinian first grader said that Jewish lives matter the punishment would be severe. The attempted indoctrination of children in California schools is no different. Knowing how important recess is to a first grader they found the one thing that would make her very sad so that she would quickly step back into line.
    Knowing the long lasting trauma that this child would suffer they didn’t care. Just to message their physiological need to appear compassionate about race they were willing to inflict damage on a first grade child that she will live with for the rest of her life. Hearts of stone. You can vote to stop it.

    1. Not only did the punishment not fit the crime (loss of recess for two weeks? yikes!), it seems the principal may have further threatend the six year old with even more punishment if she told her parents. 11-months before anyone found out she couldn’t play? That’s just cruel. Beccera needs a federal time-out.

      1. Not telling parents if you get punished is normal child behavior. (I don’t mean universal, just within the spectrum.)

        The Becerras who gave him the name Jesus should’ve sent him to Sunday school to learn the song: “Jesus loves the little children, all the little children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.”

        1. Creekan,
          “Not telling parents if you get punished is normal child behavior.”
          But at that level, the principal/school should of made that set of parents aware of the situation. They did not. They kept it from the parents.

          1. Actually, threatening to tell my parents if I didn’t cut it out would’ve probably been more effective than all the detentions and 100x handwriting assignments I remember. But to notify parents of every “infraction” might be unnecessarily time-consuming so I don’t agree that should be the standard. Two weeks of detention from recess for a single instance seems about 10x too much, though.

    2. BB is a minority white in the school? Obviously she’s hated for being a white child. They found a reason to harm her.

      What was the objective of the lesson? What a lousy school. 😏 Obviously BB didn’t know the objective and was given an F with punishment. BB only knew the solution. Just like a smart aleck white supremacists? Love those fists on the posters. BLM, you get them!

      Segregation is the answer BB.

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