In response to questions prompted by recent decisions of some school administrators to ban the display of flags and other expressive symbols, ACLU Legal Director Mark Silverstein made the following statement:

Students have a right of expression that includes the right to express their views on the controversies of their times, and they can do so through symbols as well as words. Students’ right of expression in public schools should be given as much room as possible. Thus, instead of restricting expression, school officials should encourage students to reflect, to analyze, and to express their views. Schools should also teach students how to grapple appropriately with controversial issues and with persons who hold opposing views.

School administrators should be required to justify any restrictions on students’ right of expression by pointing to specific facts that show that restrictions are necessary to ensure students’ safety or to prevent disruption of classes. In the ACLU’s view, many schools are too quick to restrict students’ right of expression. Unfortunately, federal courts interpreting the First Amendment tend to defer too much to school officials who claim a need to restrict students speech.

A Colorado statute guarantees the right to display the American flag “on an individual’s person.” Thus, even if a court finds that a “no flags” rule is consistent with the First Amendment, such a rule violates Colorado law. The Colorado statute, however, applies only to American flags, which raises another constitutional issue. The Constitution prohibits what the case law calls “viewpoint discrimination.” This means that the government cannot silence one side of a debate while allowing speakers who favor an opposing viewpoint. Thus, to the extent that personal display of American or Mexican flags now symbolizes opposing views on the current national debate about immigration issues, the Colorado statute cannot constitutionally protect the right of students to display the American flag while allowing a school to ban the display of a different flag.

DENVER, CO - In a letter sent today to the Attorney General, the ACLU of Colorado joined with women's rights groups, patient advocates, health care providers and concerned non-profit organizations in opposing the sale of Exempla Health Care (which owns two hospitals: Good Samaritan Medical Center in Lafayette and Lutheran Medical Center in Wheatridge) to the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health Systems.

The coalition's concern focuses on the drop in reproductive and end-of-life health care services available to patients at these two previously non-sectarian hospitals. Under Catholic ownership, the hospital staff would be expected to adhere to the Ethical and Religious Directives. The Directives prohibit all family planning services, referrals and counseling, including contraception, contraceptive counseling, tubal ligation and vasectomy. Patients with HIV and AIDS will not receive advice on the use of condoms to reduce risks of transmission. The directives also allow providers to ignore patient wishes for end-of-life treatment, contradicting US Supreme Court rulings granting patients the right to refuse unwanted medical treatment.

This scenario is of particular concern to those patients whose insurance plans or Medicaid coverage limits them to these hospitals, effectively preventing them from choosing from all available health care options unless they are able to pay the increased costs of out-of-network care.

UPDATE: The ACLU was in federal court on February 5, 2008 arguing for the continuation of its lawsuit against Jeppesen. Here is the complete press release.

This lawsuit originates from the ACLU's national offices. It targets a unit of Jeppesen Sanderson Inc., a Boeing subsidiary based in Englewood, for allegedly providing flight support for the CIA's extraordinary rendition program. This program shipped prisoners to overseas detention facilities where they were tortured. You can read their press release, or watch this brief video: