14 Year Old Threatened with Year in Jail over NRA T-Shirt

14-year-old at the center of "NRA T-Shirt Controversy" now facing possibility of 1 year in jail

Suspended and arrested after refusing to change his NRA shirt. Today, 14-year-old Jared Marcum appeared before a judge and was officially charged with obstructing an officer.

A $500 fine and up to a year in jail, that's the penalty that Jared could face, now that a judge has allowed the prosecution to move forward with it's obstructing an officer charge against him.

"Me, I'm more of a fighter and so is Jared and eventually we're going to get through this," Jared's father Allen Lardieri said. "I don't think it should have ever gotten this far."

The Logan County Police Department initially claimed that the at-the-time 8th grade Logan Middle School student was arrested for disturbing the education process, obstructing an officer and Lardieri says that officers even went as far as threatening to charge Jared with making terroristic threats.

"In my view of the facts, Jared didn't do anything wrong," Ben White, Jared's attorney said. "I think officer Adkins could have done something differently."

Prosecuting attorney Michael White refused to respond to any questions, as did Logan Police.

It's almost sure that Jared vociferously protested the demand that he remove his NRA shirt, but in view of the fact that the SCOTUS has ruled that students have the right to wear controversial clothing...

Students and teachers don't "shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate," the Court said.

The Court did not, however, grant students an unlimited right to self-expression. It said First Amendment guarantees must be balanced against a school's need to keep order: As long as an act of expression doesn't disrupt classwork or school activities or invade the rights of others, it's acceptable. Regarding the students in this case, "their deviation consisted only in wearing on their sleeve a band of black cloth," the Court said. "They caused discussion outside of the classrooms, but no interference with work and no disorder."

 ...it would seem to me that the school district and then the police has initiated any disruption of the class work or school activities that occurred.  Very simply, if they had chosen to ignore the shirt, almost certainly nothing untoward would have happened.

It's unlikely that Jared will actually face a year in jail over this, but it is a sign of the desperation of the educational  establishment, and the police state that they are willing to threaten such sanctions to a 14 year old over a T-shirt. It's an effort to enforce an anti-gun propaganda campaign through the schools that needs to be squashed firmly.  Suing the school district and the police should be in order.

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