PORTLAND, Ore. — A Hillsboro student who sued Liberty High School, the principal and district, arguing they violated his First Amendment rights when he was told to go home or cover up his pro-border wall T-shirt, received $25,000 as part of a settlement, his attorneys announced.
In addition to the money, which will pay for his attorney fees, Barnes received a letter of apology from Liberty principal Greg Timmons.
“I brought this case to stand up for myself and other students who might be afraid to express their right-of-center views. Everyone knows that if a student wears an anti-Trump shirt to school, the teachers won’t think twice about it. But when I wore a pro-Trump shirt, I got suspended. That’s not right,” said Barnes in a news release from his attorneys.
A federal judge in May overturned the January 2018 decision by school administrators, who banned Addison Barnes from wearing a pro-border wall T-shirt to school.
Liberty High School in Hillsboro had prohibited Barnes from wearing his "Donald J. Trump Border Wall Construction Co." shirt on school grounds. But U.S. District Judge Michael W. Mosman found that the Hillsboro School District could not justify its censorship, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported.
Barnes, 18, was suspended Jan. 19 for wearing the shirt to his "People and Politics" class, where the topic of discussion was immigration. After his father met with the principal, the school rescinded the suspension but told Barnes he couldn't wear the shirt again in school.
School officials said the shirt would contribute to a "hostile learning environment" and would make students feel insecure, noting students of Hispanic descent make up about one-third of the school population. The district also described increased tensions arising from racially-charged language around immigration.