McQueen High Student Suspended For Vulgarity On Call To Amodei

RENO, NV - A student at McQueen High School has been suspended after making a phone call to Rep. Mark Amodei's office and using vulgarity to express his perceived urgent need for Congress to act on gun violence. As a result, the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada is coming to the student's defense, saying the discipline is a blatant violation of his First Amendment rights.

The ACLU of Nevada sent a letter to Amodei demanding an apology and a letter to Washoe County School District and Robert McQueen High Principal Amy Marable demanding the suspension be overturned.

A McQueen High junior identified as Noah made the call to Amodei's office during the March 14 National School Walkout rally that took place across the country. Noah is alleged to have told a staffer at Amodei's that Congress must "get off their f------ a----" when it comes to passing legislation to mitigate gun violence.

According to the ACLU, the staffer then called McQueen High School and reported Noah's call as "offensive" and the school suspended him for two days for disrespectful behavior and language.

"We are deeply disturbed that your office moved to restrict the First Amendment rights of one of your own constituents in such a way," the letter to Amodei reads. The ACLU says that Noah didn't break any law, regardless of the language he chose to use, and furthermore was exercising his constitutional right.

"Regardless of your opinions of the March for Our Lives movement, student walkouts, and gun control policies, it was inappropriate and unbecoming of your Congressional office to seek to have this student punished. You owe this student a public apology for retaliating against him by enlisting the school to punish him on your behalf," the letter says.

The student was recently elected class secretary and treasurer but won't be able to serve in that role due to the suspension. He admitted he'd use different language again, if given the chance, but didn't back away from the sentiment of his phone call.

"Being yelled at for calling my representative and trying to create change in the world is one of the worst feelings I've ever experienced. All I want is for this suspension to be overturned and to take my place as class secretary, so I can move on to college with my record restored. I've never even had a detention before let alone a suspension," Noah said, according to the ACLU.

In a more lengthy letter to Washoe County Superintendent Traci Davis and McQueen High Principal Amy Marable, ACLU Legal Director Amy Rose argued Noah's First Amendment rights were violated by suspending him for two days. Rose says that the school can't discipline Noah because the call was made outside of school and was not associated with a school sponsored function, and even if it did occur on school grounds or as part of a school sponsored event, the school does not have the right to punish him based on his speech.

"Courts may regulate and limit on-campus student speech in certain circumstance, however, Noah's speech is not of a character that the school can impose punishment on without running afoul of the Constitution," the letter reads.

Rose also argues that the punishment is too severe, compared to other students who have used vulgarities. Finally, she says the punishment flies in the face of ideal education policy.

"Disciplining a student and permanently damaging their future college prospects because they actively participated in democracy will have a chilling effect on other students who are considering engaging in the political process. In a time when students across the country are expressing their views about matters at the forefront of our national political discourse, schools should be especially mindful of their roles in educating young people as citizens and should not "strangle the free mind at its source and teach youth to discount important principles of our government as mere platitudes," the letter reads.

In the letter, Rose said the ACLU will take legal action if the school doesn't "remedy" the suspension by March 26.

The school and school district aren't commenting on specifics. A call to McQueen High School was referred to Washoe County School District, who provided the following statement in lieu of taking questions:

“The Washoe County School District honors, respects and adheres to the First Amendment of our U.S. Constitution. It is within this context that thousands of our students respectfully and appropriately used their First Amendment rights by participating in walk out actions on several of our campuses on March 14th as well as participated in dozens of other school-sanctioned activities related to this national movement.

“No students were suspended for participation in walk out events on March 14. However, the District cannot discuss specific discipline of individual students due to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

“The District expects students to act appropriately and with decorum. Some students were disciplined for breaking student conduct codes or participating in other inappropriate behavior.”

This story was updated to include comments from Washoe County School District.