Boroff v. Van Wert City Board of Education (220 F.3d 465, 2000)

WELLFORD, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which SILER, J., joined. GILMAN, J. (pp. 472-76), delivered a separate dissenting opinion.

OPINION

WELLFORD, Circuit Judge.

After Van Wert (Ohio) High School administrators told Nicholas Boroff that he was not allowed to wear “Marilyn Manson” T-shirts to school, Boroff s mother initiated this action on his behalf pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that the administrators’ refusal to let him wear the T-shirts violated his rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The district court entered summary judgment in favor of the Van Wert City Board of Education and each of the school administrators who were named as defendants. We AFFIRM the decision of the district court.

I. BACKGROUND

This dispute arises out of a high school student’s desire to wear “Marilyn Manson” T-shirts to school, and the school’s opposing desire to prohibit those T-shirts. Marilyn Manson is the stage name of “goth” rock performer Brian Warner, and also the name of the band in which he is the lead singer. See Encarta World English Dictionary (2000)