Posted by Eugene Volokh:
Violence, Right and Wrong:
[1]Last week, a federal district court held that a high school student
couldn't be stopped from wearing a T-shirt that reproduces the
[2]Marine creed:
My Rifle
The Creed of a United States Marine
This is my rifle. There are many like it, but this one is
mine. My rifle is my best friend. It is my life.
I must master it as I must master my life.
My rifle, without me, is useless. Without my rifle, I am
useless. I must fire my rifle true. I must shoot
straighter than my enemy who is trying to kill me. I
must shoot him before he shoots me. I will . . .
The T-shirt also depicted the Marine seal and a "large picture of an
M16 rifle (the standard weapon of the Marines)."
School authorities forbade this T-shirt on the grounds that it was
"inappropriate for the educational setting," apparently because it
violated the school dress code, which barred "apparel depicting . . .
symbols of violence." The court concluded that the prohibition on such
apparel is generally constitutional (I'm not sure that's right given
the Supreme Court precedents on K-12 student free speech, but
apparently the Seventh Circuit, in which the court and the school are
located, has a narrower view of the precedents than do other courts),
but that it's unconstitutional as applied to this particular shirt.
Seems to me that the court got it right, and that the school officials
got it wrong. And they got it wrong because they made a basic error
that's unfortunately far too common: They confused violence with
wrongful violence.
Using guns to kill innocent classmates is obviously a heinous crime.
Using a gun to defend yourself is perfectly proper. An American
marine's using guns to kill the enemy is a necessary (though sometimes
regrettable) duty. And while we should generally want to create a
culture of law-abidingness, a culture of pacifism -- or a culture in
which the Marine Creed is treated as the equivalent of gangsta rap --
is a recipe for national disaster.
References
1. http://www.innd.uscourts.gov/opinions/Cosbey/104cv059GriggsvFWCS.pdf
2. http://www.sixthmarinedivision.com/creed.html
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