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DEREK BARR; ROGER CRAIG WHITE and CHRIS WHITE, by and through their parent and guardian ROGER WHITE, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. STEVE LAFON, in his individual and official capacity as Principal of William Blount High School; ALVIN HORD, in his official capacity as Director of Schools; and THE BLOUNT COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD, Defendants-Appellees. |
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Tennessee at Knoxville.
No. 06-00075—Thomas A. Varlan, District Judge.
Argued: April 22, 2008
Decided and Filed: August 20, 2008
Before: MOORE and CLAY, Circuit Judges; SCHWARZER, District Judge.
KAREN NELSON MOORE, Circuit Judge. Derek Barr, Roger Craig White, and Chris Nicole White (“Plaintiffs-Appellants”), students at William Blount High School (“the school”) in Blount County, Tennessee, would like to express their southern heritage by wearing clothing depicting the Confederate flag at school. They appeal the district court’s grant of summary judgment to the principal of their school, Steven Lafon (“Lafon”), the director of the Blount County schools, Alvin Hord (“Hord”), and the Blount County School Board1 on their First Amendment, Equal Protection Clause, and Due Process Clause claims.
. . .Because we conclude that the school reasonably forecast that images of the Confederate flag would substantially and materially disrupt the school environment, we AFFIRM the grant of summary judgment to the Board with respect to Plaintiffs-Appellants’ First Amendment claim. Furthermore, because we conclude that the dress code’s ban on racially divisive symbols, as enforced against the Confederate flag, is narrowly tailored to a substantial government interest, we AFFIRM the grant of summary judgment to the Board with respect to Plaintiffs-Appellants’ Equal Protection claim. Lastly, Plaintiffs-Appellants have forfeited their Due Process claim, and we AFFIRM the grant of summary judgment with respect to this claim.
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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. JOSEPH DJOUMESSI, Defendant-Appellant. |
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Michigan at Detroit.
No. 05-80110—Arthur J. Tarnow, District Judge.
Argued: July 23, 2008
Decided and Filed: August 20, 2008
Before: SUTTON and COOK, Circuit Judges; ROSE, District Judge.
SUTTON, Circuit Judge. The federal government successfully prosecuted Joseph Djoumessi for violating one (happily) obscure statute—holding someone in involuntary servitude—and for violating another less obscure statute—harboring an alien for private financial gain. Djoumessi claims that the charges violated his rights under the Double Jeopardy Clause and that the government failed to support the involuntary-servitude conviction (and a related conspiracy conviction) with sufficient evidence. We affirm.