1178, 1183, 87 L.Ed. She was discharged in July, 1984 for insubordination and conduct unbecoming a teacher. 1976) (finding no constitutional violation in the Board's exercise of curriculum and textbook control, while, at the same time, determining that the Board had wrongly removed books from the library). She was discharged in July, 1984 for insubordination and conduct unbecoming a teacher. For the reasons that follow, we vacate the judgment of the district court and dismiss plaintiff's action. Emergency Coalition v. U.S. Dept. Whether a certain activity is entitled to protection under the First Amendment is a question of law. Id., at 159, 94 S.Ct. Id., at 1116. Trial Transcript Vol. Joint Appendix at 83-84. ." In Cohen v. California, 403 U.S. 15, 91 S.Ct. The students in Fowler's classes were in grades nine through eleven and were of the ages fourteen through seventeen. The district court concluded that Fowler's conduct was protected by the First Amendment, and that she was discharged for exercising her constitutionally protected rights. Sterling, Ky., for defendants-appellants, cross-appellees. Only three justices agreed that students possess a constitutionally protected entitlement to access to particular books in the school's library. Joint Appendix at 83, 103, 307. Sec. applying Arnett and Wishart in upholding dismissal standard of "conduct unbecoming a teacher", Fowler v. Board of Education of Lincoln County. Plaintiff Jacqueline Fowler was a tenured teacher employed by the Lincoln County, Kentucky, school system for fourteen years. 1731, 1734-35, 20 L.Ed.2d 811 (1968)); see also Anderson v. Evans, 660 F.2d 153, 157 (6th Cir. . See 3 Summaries. Bd. An alternative to lists of cases, the Precedent Map makes it easier to establish which ones may be of most relevance to your research and prioritise further reading. On cross-examination, Charles Bailey testified that Mrs. Fowler told him to open the file folder while editing after Candler entered the room. When the students watched the film on May 31, 1984, Ms. Fowler directed a student who had seen the movie previously to cover the screen with a file folder during scenes involving nudity or sexually suggestive material. These cases do not lend themselves to the reverse purpose of defining what kind of communication can not be expressive. Trial Transcript Vol. Plaintiff cross-appeals on the ground that K.R.S. But he said the school officials fired Ms. Fowler because they also determined the film was inappropriate for classroom viewing because of its sexual innuendo and sexually explicit material, some profane language, violence and vulgar images.. She believed the movie portrayed the dangers of alienation between people and of repressive educational systems. It is obvious, therefore, that Mrs. Fowler's discharge was prompted by the content of the movie. v. Doyle, 429 U.S. 274, 97 S.Ct. She said the store clerk who rented it to her told her it contained some nudity but also dealt with social issues of importance to teen-agers. Ms. Fowler's after the fact rationalizations for having shown the film cannot alter the fact that she used poor judgment and should not shield her from the consequences. Joint Appendix at 199, 201, 207, 212-13, 223, 226, 251. There is also conflicting testimony regarding the amount of sexual innuendo existing in the "unedited" version of the film. 733, 736, 21 L.Ed.2d 731 (1969), has acknowledged that students and teachers do not "shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate." District Court Opinion at 6. Healthy, 429 U.S. at 282-84, 97 S.Ct. The clerk who rented the "R" rated tape to Fowler told her that there was some nudity in the movie during a song called "Young Lust" and warned that she might wish to delete that section. 1969)). Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. We conclude that the statute proscribing "conduct unbecoming a teacher" gave her adequate notice that such conduct would subject her to discipline. Fowler testified that she left the classroom on several occasions while the movie was being shown. 532, 535-36, 75 L.Ed. Joint Appendix at 321. '", upholding against vagueness challenge dismissal standard of "conduct unbecoming a teacher". v. Pico, 457 U.S. 853, 102 S.Ct. In order to defend itself against such a claim, the government must establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the decision to terminate would have been made in the absence of the exercise of the constitutionally protected right. 397 (M.D.Ala. Another shows police brutality. Sterling, Ky., for defendants-appellants, cross-appellees. 1979). Board of Education of Lincoln County Date: 1987 Level or Type of Court: United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit Facts: Defendants, Board of Education of Lincoln County, Kentucky, individual board members, and the Superintendent of the Lincoln County Schools Plaintiff, Jacqueline Fowler tenured teacher employed by Lincoln County school 403 U.S. at 25, 91 S.Ct. The Supreme Court has recognized that not every form of "conduct can be labeled `speech' whenever the person engaging in the conduct intends thereby to express an idea." Joint Appendix at 127. This segment of the film was shown in the morning session. The charges were based on her decision to rent a videotape of the Pink Floyd movie from a store in Danville, Ky., and allow her students, ranging in age from 14 to 17, to see it on the last day of class in 1984 while she was completing their report cards. The basis for this action was that she had an "R" rated movie, Pink Floyd The Wall, shown to her high school students on the last day of the 1983-84 school year. 1, 469 F.2d 623 (2d Cir. On July 10, 1984, plaintiff Fowler appeared with counsel at the administrative hearing. Plaintiff Jacqueline Fowler was a tenured teacher employed by the Lincoln County, Kentucky, school system for fourteen years. at 2806-09. Moreover, there is testimony supporting the fact that more editing was done in the afternoon showing than in the morning showing. board could dismiss a tenured high school teacher with 14 years of experience for insubordination and conduct unbecoming an educator for showing Pink Floyd: The Wall on the last day of the academic year considered a noninstructional day (Fowler v. Board of Education of Lincoln County, Ky. 1987a, 1987b). At the administrative hearing, several students testified that they saw no nudity. In this appeal, defendants contend that the district court erred in its conclusion that plaintiff's discharge violated her First Amendment rights. However, not every form of conduct is protected by the First Amendment right of free speech. 746 (1948), and Anderson v. Bessemer City, 470 U.S. 564, 575, 105 S.Ct. Following this executive session, the board returned to open session and voted unanimously to terminate plaintiff's employment for insubordination and conduct unbecoming a teacher. Fowler was unfamiliar with the movie and asked the students whether it was appropriate for viewing at school. 736; James, 461 F.2d at 571. Id. At the bench trial in the district court, Fowler repeated her contention that she believed the movie contained important, socially valuable messages. Law Rep. 1011 Jacqueline FOWLER, Plaintiff-Appellee, Cross-Appellant, v. The BOARD OF EDUCATION OF LINCOLN COUNTY, KENTUCKY; Joseph G. Blair, Individually and As Superintendent of the Lincoln County Schools; Lloyd McGuffey; Jimmy Cooper; Ivan Singleton; Tom Blankenship; and Paul Playforth, Individually and Each in His Official Capacities, Respectively, As a Member of the Board of Education of Lincoln County, Kentucky, Defendants- Appellants, Cross-Appellees. denied, 464 U.S. 993, 104 S.Ct. Moreover, there was a direct connection between this misconduct and Fowler's work as a teacher. 719, 15 L.Ed.2d 637 (1966) (sit-in by blacks at "whites only" library), West Virginia State Bd. . See, e.g., Mt. Book Board of Education Policies Section 6000 Instruction . See Jarman, 753 F.2d at 77. Federal judges and local school boards do not make good movie critics or good censors of movie content. 1628 (1943) (flag salute is a form of expression); Stromberg v. California, 283 U.S. 359, 368-69, 51 S.Ct. at 3166 (recognizing need for flexibility in formulating school disciplinary rules). At the administrative hearing, several students testified that they saw no nudity. 1972), cert. Id., at 410, 94 S.Ct. Thus, this case is distinguishable from those in which the Supreme Court has afforded First Amendment protection in cases involving expressive conduct. Defendants, The Board of Education of Lincoln County, Kentucky, individual board members, and the Superintendent of the Lincoln County Schools, appeal from the judgment of the district court awarding reinstatement and damages to plaintiff Jacqueline Fowler on the ground that her employment was terminated in violation of her First Amendment rights. A group of students requested that Fowler allow the movie to be shown while she was completing the grade cards. . Bethel School District No. The clerk who rented the "R" rated tape to Fowler told her that there was some nudity in the movie during a song called "Young Lust" and warned that she might wish to delete that section. A group of students requested that Fowler allow the movie to be shown while she was completing the grade cards. Finally, the district court concluded that K.R.S. One particularly controversial segment of scenes is animated in which flowers appear on the screen, are transformed into the shape of male and female sex organs and then engage in an act of intercourse. Healthy burden. Rather, the proper focus of our inquiry is whether Fowler was engaged in expressive activity protected by the First Amendment, and nothing in the record would indicate that she was so engaged. Cf. Joint Appendix at 308-09. 733, 736, 21 L.Ed.2d 731 (1969). 5//28he wds employed by the % "incoln ounty 5//28chool istrict in $ !entucky. See Tinker, 393 U.S. at 506, 89 S.Ct. We emphasize that our decision in this case is limited to the peculiar facts before us. 1976), for the proposition that students in a public school have a constitutionally protected right "to receive information which they and their teachers desire them to have." For similar reasons, plaintiff's reliance on Pratt v. Independent School District No. Another scene shows children being fed into a giant sausage machine. 161.790(1)(b) was not vague or overbroad, apparently for the reason that, because Fowler's conduct was protected by the First Amendment, such conduct, "as a matter of fact and law did not constitute conduct unbecoming a teacher.". Plaintiff Jacqueline Fowler was a tenured teacher employed by the Lincoln County, Kentucky, school system for fourteen years. The court disagreed, concluding that "[t]he regulations prescribing a teacher's speech and conduct are necessarily broad; they cannot possibly mention every type of misconduct." And in Barnette, the court recognized that a flag salute is a form of communicative conduct which implicates the First Amendment. The mere fact that at some point she may have developed an approval of the content of the movie is not, standing alone, a sufficient basis for the conclusion that her conduct in having the movie shown was a form of expression entitled to protection under the First Amendment. 1782, 1797, 52 L.Ed.2d 261 (1977) ("But our cases have never suggested that expression about philosophical, social, artistic, economic, literary, or ethical matters to take a nonexhaustive list of labels is not entitled to full First Amendment protection."). Cmty. Because the intent to express was coupled with a great likelihood that the message would be understood, the Court concluded that the conduct was entitled to protection under the First Amendment. It is also undisputed that she left the room on several occasions while the film was being shown. Other segments involving a violent rape, nudity, a suggestion of oral sex, and a naked woman and naked man in bed engaging in foreplay and intercourse were also shown in the morning. Her having the movie shown under the circumstances involved demonstrates a blatant lack of judgment. 161.790(1)(b) is not unconstitutionally vague. ACCEPT. Id., at 863-69, 102 S.Ct. Healthy. However, Fowler did not preview the movie before having it shown to her morning class because the store did not have a tape compatible with her own VCR and because she did not have time to make other arrangements to preview the movie. Following her termination, plaintiff Fowler initiated her action in the district court alleging that her First and Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated by her discharge, and that the Kentucky statutes forming the basis for her discharge were unconstitutionally vague or overbroad. The board viewed the movie once in its entirety and once as it had been edited in the classroom. 2849, 53 L.Ed.2d 965 (1977), for the general proposition that entertainment enjoys First Amendment protection. Study with Quizlet and memorize flashcards containing terms like Pickering v. Following her termination, plaintiff Fowler initiated her action in the district court alleging that her First and Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated by her discharge, and that the Kentucky statutes forming the basis for her discharge were unconstitutionally vague or overbroad. In the present case, plaintiff Fowler had a fifteen-year-old student show a controversial, highly suggestive and somewhat sexually explicit movie to a group of high school students aged fourteen to seventeen. 2537, 91 L.Ed.2d 249 (1986). Pucci v. Michigan Supreme Court, Case No. of Educ. Trial Transcript Vol. Joint Appendix at 265-89. Purely expressive works songs, movies and books of entertainment value only are protected by the First Amendment just like works of moral philosophy. School officials testified that they objected to the movie because it promoted values which were described as immoral, antieducation, antifamily, antijudiciary, and antipolice. OF LINCOLN COUNTY, KY. Email | Print | Comments ( 0) Nos. 525, 542, 92 L.Ed. Joint Appendix at 82-83. Consequently, the focus of our inquiry is whether Fowler's conduct was constitutionally protected. As the District Court correctly found, the school board in this case had to negate the testimony of its own members that the determinative causative factor in Mrs. Fowler's discharge was her decision to allow "antieducation, antifamily, antijudiciary, and antipolice" views to be expressed in her classroom. (same); id. See also Board of Education v. McCollum, 721 S.W.2d 703 (Ky. 1986) (upholding discharge for conduct unbecoming a teacher when teacher filed false affidavit regarding sick leave and lied about time spent with student in course of special home instruction program). Sterling, Ky., F.C. (Education Code 60605.86- . technology developed exclusively by vLex editorially enriches legal information to make it accessible, with instant translation into 14 languages for enhanced discoverability and comparative research. She did not preview the movie, despite the fact that she had been warned that portions were unsuitable for viewing in this context. Judge Milburn does not inquire into the motivation of the school board but rather bases his decision on the fact that Ms. Fowler's action in showing the film to her classes was not conduct protected by the First Amendment. On July 10, 1984, plaintiff Fowler appeared with counsel at the administrative hearing. Jarman v. Williams, 753 F.2d 76, 77-78 (8th Cir. 487, 78 L.Ed.2d 683 (1983). Stephen Fowler/Georgia Public Broadcasting As a half-dozen voting rights advocates filed into the Lincoln County Board of Elections to deliver a petition that temporarily halted plans to. Moreover, even these three justices explicitly noted that the decision regarding this right did not extend to the classroom. Click the citation to see the full text of the cited case. "To regard teachers in our entire educational system, from the primary grades to the university as the priests of our democracy is therefore not to indulge in hyperbole." Sec. Another scene shows children being fed into a giant sausage machine. The district court concluded that Fowler was not insubordinate because she did not violate an established rule or regulation, and also found that plaintiff's due process rights were not violated by the procedures utilized at the administrative hearing. at 2730. 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