Two middle school students often wear clothing with slogans like “Vegan All Day, Every Day, “The Moo Moo is a No No,” and “Be Cool, Be Vegan.” The students believe that consuming any animal products, like meat and milk, is bad for health and bad for the environment. They began a campaign to convince all the students in the school to bring lunch from home instead of eating school lunch. Each day greater numbers of students brought their lunch to school and wore pro-vegan clothing. The school suspended the students who began the campaign against the school lunches. School officials said it was a disruption to the school, because food was wasted and cafeteria workers had less to do. The students’ parents complained, saying their students have the right to express their ideas and opinions through their clothing and actions. They brought the case to court on the students’ behalf. The students’ parents lost the case in state district court and so appealed it to their state court of appeals. There they won the case, but the school board appealed the decision to their state-level supreme court. The state supreme court found in favor of the school board. The students and their parents are now appealing the state supreme court’s decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Why did the students believe they had the right to wear the t-shirts?