Alito, Thomas Left Stunned After SCOTUS Refuses To Protect Middle Schooler’s Speech Rights

Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas were left stunned on Tuesday after their colleagues refused to take up a case involving a Massachusetts middle schooler who was reprimanded in school for wearing a shirt acknowledging biological reality.

As part of its newly released order list, the nation’s highest court declined to hear arguments in L.M. v. Town of Middleborough. The case involves Middleborough, Massachusetts, youth Liam Morrison, who in March 2023 wore a T-shirt that reads, “There Are Only Two Genders” to Nichols Middle School.

As The Federalist previously reported, Morrison — who was in seventh grade at the time — “was pulled from class by acting Principal Heather Tucker, who ordered Morrison to remove the shirt. After Morrison declined to do so, Tucker allegedly said he would not be permitted to return to class until he removed the shirt, prompting the seventh grader to leave school for the day.” This prompted Morrison to instead wear a shirt that reads, “There Are Censored Genders,” which school administrators also prohibited him from wearing.

Morrison’s father and stepmother filed a lawsuit on Liam’s behalf, in which they argued, in part, that the school’s actions violated Liam’s First Amendment right to free speech. A federal district court judge and the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals denied plaintiffs relief in the case, leading the latter to ask SCOTUS to take up the matter.

While Supreme Court rules require at least four justices to agree to hear a case before it can be considered by the full court, Alito and Thomas are the only named justices on Tuesday’s order list as those who would have granted Morrison’s petition.

The high court’s refusal to defend Morrison’s First Amendment rights sparked a scathing dissent from Alito, in which Thomas joined.

Continue Reading at The Federalist.