Censorchimps: The East Texas Subspecies

Who would've thought that wearing a "John Edwards for President" T-shirt would get a kid suspended from high school? The lawsuit was inevitable:

A Waxahachie High School sophomore is suing the school district for the right to wear a T-shirt supporting John Edwards as a 2008 presidential candidate.

The Liberty Legal Institute on Tuesday announced that it was suing the Waxahachie Independent School District on behalf of Pete Palmer and his parents.

According to an institute representative, the district violated Palmer's constitutional right to free speech when it sent him home from school in October for wearing the shirt, threatening him with suspension if he did so again.

The suit seeks permission for Palmer to wear the shirt on campus, as well as unspecified monetary damages and reimbursement of the student's legal fees, according to the institute.

"I just think they’re wrong," Palmer said during an October interview with FOX 4 News. "And I just think it’s an incorrect policy and it needs to be changed."

WISD Superintendent Thomas J. Collins said that shirts with political slogans are against dress code policy, which is clearly posted online.

“It had nothing to do with trying to stifle anyone’s free speech,” Collins said.

When I first saw this story, I thought that it might have been an April Fools' prank.

Nope.

You can follow this link to get to the backstory. And there's more here.