A group of students who were harassed and told to leave the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM) because of their “pro-life” hats achieved a legal victory Monday when the Smithsonian accepted a consent decree stating that visitors may wear clothing with religious and political statements.
On January 20, a group of students from Our Lady of the Rosary School in Greenville, S.C., who had traveled to Washington, D.C., to attend the National March for Life, also visited the NASM. The students were wearing blue knit caps with the words “Rosary” and “Pro-life” on them.
According to the lawsuit the students filed against the Smithsonian, they were all told to remove their hats when passing through security, and they complied, thinking it was a standard part of security screening. Later, after they had put their hats back on, they were subjected to verbal harassment by security personnel throughout the museum. Some simply told them to remove their hats. Others, talking to fellow officers within earshot of the students, spoke of them derisively and with profanity. One “approached the students and had a big grin on his face and was rubbing his hands together as he said, ‘Y’all are about to make my day.’” He then told them they needed to remove their hats or else leave the building.
Inquiring as to why others were permitted to wear, e.g., “Pride” masks while they were being forced to remove their pro-life hats, the students were allegedly told by a security officer that their hats were “political statements” and that they were “not promoting equality.” When students pointed out that since the Smithsonian is a federally funded institution, they had a First Amendment right to free expression within its confines, the same officer allegedly said, “I’m not taking away your First Amendment rights” because the museum is a “neutral zone.” When he finally succeeded in hounding them out of the museum, the officer is said to have “clapped his hands together in a dismissive clapping and shooing manner.”
>
A group of students who were harassed and told to leave the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM) because of their “pro-life” hats achieved a legal victory Monday when the Smithsonian accepted a consent decree stating that visitors may wear clothing with religious and political statements.
>
On January 20, a group of students from Our Lady of the Rosary School in Greenville, S.C., who had traveled to Washington, D.C., to attend the National March for Life, also visited the NASM. The students were wearing blue knit caps with the words “Rosary” and “Pro-life” on them.
>
According to the lawsuit the students filed against the Smithsonian, they were all told to remove their hats when passing through security, and they complied, thinking it was a standard part of security screening. Later, after they had put their hats back on, they were subjected to verbal harassment by security personnel throughout the museum. Some simply told them to remove their hats. Others, talking to fellow officers within earshot of the students, spoke of them derisively and with profanity. One “approached the students and had a big grin on his face and was rubbing his hands together as he said, ‘Y’all are about to make my day.’” He then told them they needed to remove their hats or else leave the building.
>
Inquiring as to why others were permitted to wear, e.g., “Pride” masks while they were being forced to remove their pro-life hats, the students were allegedly told by a security officer that their hats were “political statements” and that they were “not promoting equality.” When students pointed out that since the Smithsonian is a federally funded institution, they had a First Amendment right to free expression within its confines, the same officer allegedly said, “I’m not taking away your First Amendment rights” because the museum is a “neutral zone.” When he finally succeeded in hounding them out of the museum, the officer is said to have “clapped his hands together in a dismissive clapping and shooing manner.”
(post is archived)