and the fact that this court ruled that that was in some way incendiary or insulting, i think, is ridiculous. the bottom line is in constitutional law putting emotions aside for a law it s a balancing act. and for this school to make a decision that they were going to send kids with an american flag home and not children from a mexican flag is highly intrusive of their first amendment rights, and there were other ways to do it. they could have banned the cinco de mayo party or whatever it was that day. but i think the way they went about it and the way it was actually affirmed by the ninth circuit was repugnant. jenna: that s what we ve heard, doug, is that and we actually have some video from 2010 when this question came up at the school. you see the boys in their united states of america flag t-shirts right. jenna: and then you see other students waving the mexican flag, and some say there s a double standard. is that the case heresome. well, it s funny, because in going
them turn their american flag t-shirts inside out. the school ordered students wearing those shirts either to hide the flag or go home fearing they would incite violence with latino students on the mexican holiday of cinco demayo. william la you yahoo! necessary la jeunesse is live in los angeles with more. reporter: well, the flag flap has drawn national attention with many upset students were not allowed to wear an american flag at an american school. yesterday the ninth circuit court of appeal sided with live oak high school near san jose where back in 2010 it told five students wearing shirts with the american flag to cover up or go home. worried that the shirts would upset hispanic students celebrating the mexican holiday of cinco de mayo. the school, which is equally split white and hispanic, called the shirts incendiary and disrespectful. and cited a history of racial tension. the court ruled concerns outweie
jenna: well, back to a story that certainly has a lot of interest, we ve been talking about a ruling that upheld a ban that a school put on students wearing american flag t-shirts on cinco demaya, a mexican holiday celebrated here in the united states. the school feared it would cause violence between white and hispanic students. some of the hispanic students were wearing the mexican flag. there was no ban, however, on latino students. our lawyers back with us, you re both dads, so you send your kids to school and have had that experience. here s what one of mothers of the student who wore the american flag, the shutter had to say. this is the united states of america. the idea that it s offensive to wear patriot you can clothing regardless of what day it is is
on with the intent to confront the students that were going to wear the mexican flag right, right. jenna: does that change the flag? the parents say they didn t. the answer is that would go to make whether or not what the school did was reasonable. if they knew they did it in order to incite violence and start a fight, then the answer is, yes, that could be relevant. jenna: okay. and that s one of the things that will come up if it does go to the higher courts? you know what s going to happen, by the way, because william mentioned this. they re going to go for rehearing en banc which means normally the appeal s in front of three judges of the ninth circuit, but in this case you go in front of the swire court. that s what they re going for. if they lose that, they can go to the u.s. supreme court. jenna: and do you think if they lose that, it s going to be difficult for them to get to the supreme court. i yee actually, yeah. i think this case will stand the way it is.
unconscionable to me. doug, what do you think about this case? the court ruled clearly in favor of the school. well, i think you have to factor out sort of the emotionalism and the sound bites, and you have to look at why? the law. we have a 1969 case and this, by the way, does not express my own view, but we have a case called tinker v. des moines school district 1969. it says students are absolutely free to express their opinions unless it interferes with the administration of the school. and, obviously, opinions can vary. here, and i read the opinion, the court said that there were previous instances of violence on cinco de mayo, so the school s actions were reasonable. again, opinions can vary. jenna: fred? well, let me tell you, the law is not free from passion, and i m sorry, i disagree with this decision for a lot of different reasons, not the least of which i think it s a fundamental first amendment right to be able to express your patriotism and wear our flag.