## Facts

- Fairfax High School teams were known as the “Rebels,” and the school used a Confederate-themed cartoon mascot, “Johnny Reb.”
- The principal, Harry F. Holsinger, removed the Johnny Reb symbol after receiving complaints from Black students and parents and a recommendation from a Minority Achievement Task Force.
- Holsinger permitted students to select a replacement symbol on the condition it be unrelated to the Confederacy.
- Students opposing the removal engaged in protests, including rallies, a petition drive, attending a school board meeting, and wearing blue ribbons.
- With one exception, the principal did not interfere with student protests.
- The exception involved student Cheryl Crosby, who was initially stopped from posting notices on school bulletin boards announcing an upcoming school board meeting; the principal permitted posting the next day.
- On remand after earlier appellate proceedings, the district court directed a verdict for the principal on the broad First Amendment “censorship” claim challenging the mascot’s removal.
- The narrower “protest restriction” claim regarding the one-day posting delay went to the jury, which returned a verdict for the principal.

## Issues

1. Whether a public school principal violates the First Amendment by discontinuing a school-sponsored Confederate-themed mascot in response to complaints that it was offensive.
2. Whether a one-day delay in allowing a student to post notices on school bulletin boards about a school board meeting violates the student’s First Amendment rights.

## Decision

- The Fourth Circuit affirmed the judgment for the principal on both claims.
- The directed verdict for the principal on the mascot “censorship” claim was upheld.
- The jury verdict for the principal on Crosby’s bulletin-board posting claim was upheld.

## Legal Principles

- Students retain First Amendment rights at school, but school officials are not required to sponsor or promote all student expression.
- Decisions about school-sponsored symbols and messages fall within school authority and are distinct from suppressing student-initiated speech.
- School officials may exercise reasonable, limited control over school-controlled forums (such as bulletin boards), and a brief, non-patterned restriction that leaves ample alternative avenues for expression may not amount to a constitutional violation.
- Appellate courts will not disturb a defense jury verdict on a student-speech claim where the record supports the verdict.

## Conclusion

The court held that a principal may discontinue a school-sponsored Confederate-themed mascot without violating students’ First Amendment rights and that a one-day delay in permitting bulletin-board notices, in the context of otherwise permitted protests, did not establish unconstitutional suppression of student expression.


Crosby v. Holsinger, 852 F.2d 801 (4th Cir. 1988)