“A student will not dress or groom in a manner that disrupts the educational process or is detrimental to the health, safety or welfare of others. A student will not dress in a manner that is distractive or indecent, to the extent that it interferes with the teaching and learning process, including wearing any apparel that displays or promotes any drug-, alcohol- or tobacco-related product that is prohibited in school buildings, on school grounds, in school-leased or owned vehicles, and at all school-affiliated functions.” That’s the Logan Middle School policy on appropriate attire for students. And yes, Logan’s a public school. So . . .

When Bieber-headed Jared Marcum showed up at the Logan, West Virginia school hoping to turn his young skull full of much into something more productive, he was suspended. And arrested.

From wboy.com:

“I don’t’ see how anybody would have an issue with a hunting rifle and NRA put on a t-shirt, especially when policy doesn’t forbid it,” (Jared’s father, Allen) Lardieri said.

While West Virginia may be a relatively firearm-friendly state, it’s hard to figure a student not expecting a shirt sporting a gun wouldn’t raise an eyebrow or two in a zero-tolerance government school that’s unencumbered by a sense of proportion or common sense. If you can be tossed for a ballistically-bitten Pop-Tart, a shirt depicting a hunting rifle’s sure the get administrators tizzified.

Still…arrested? According to theblaze.com:

Police confirmed that Marcum had been arrested and faced charges of obstruction and disturbing the education process after getting into an argument over the shirt with a teacher at Logan Middle School, which is south of Charleston.

Whatever the circumstances, dad says he’s not taking this one lying down.

“I will go to the ends of the earth, I will call people, I will write letters, I will do everything in the legal realm to make sure this does not happen again,” Lardieri said.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

94 COMMENTS

  1. What makes this even funnier (if anything about this is funny) is the school flies the West Virigina State flag that has crossed rifles on it and in the parking lot is a doughboy statue complete with 03 Springfield and grenades.

  2. Wow… Where do I even start?

    How many constitutional amendments is this school intent on violating?

    • All of them except the 3rd Amendment, and they will violate that one as soon as they can develop their school Gestapo.

    • It’s been well established that children don’t have Constitutional rights. You’d be surprised how many legal rulings have said that the First Amendment, among others, doesn’t apply to children at school.

      Furthermore, your children are not *yours*. They’re property of the collective village, and the village will do with them as it sees fit.

      • Yeah if that was my kid, that teacher would be looking for a new job and a lawyer.

        Oh, and the school has no such authority. SCotUS already ruled on the issue.

      • Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District
        But I have a feeling you’re being sarcastic

    • None. Until kids reach majority, they basically have no rights.

      While it’s illegal to rape a five-year-old, they haven’t the right not to be raped. It’s a violation of ward-of-the-state property laws.

      Sucks, but true.

    • Arrested for “obstructing and disturbing the education process.” I find that statement ironically disturbing, something straight out of North Korea.

  5. Been there, done that, laugh at it occasionaly.

    Wasn’t arrested, but was suspended due to refusing to change, and I was in the South! But the Principal was VERY Liberal.

    No NRA/RKBA, but absolutly no problem when someone wore a Black Power shirt.

    • Ahh…there’s the rub.

      The predominantly liberal grabbers combine their holier than thou double standards while at the same time revealing their bigotry.

  6. Whoever suspended (and consequently arrested) this kid has clearly never heard of Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District. The First Amendment doesn’t end at the schoolhouse door. I expect someone will be getting a big fat settlement out of this one.

  8. The thought police are inside of your head,
    The thought police they know what you said.

    There once was a day when the police would have admonished the school
    for wasting their time with such non-police activity. No more, not today.
    Today, a thought, or even an image of a gun is treated as though an actual
    gun had been brought to school. I wore an Anschutz sweatshirt throughout
    most of my senior year with nary a scant look from teachers or staff.
    That year was 1978. Now, it practically requires a school lock-down.
    Hope and change you can believe in? Yah, change your shirt, or else.

    • If anyone’s willing to try it, I betcha just the singular word “GUN” printed on a t-shirt will get the same southern hospitality.

      Or how about “‘GUN,’ she said.”?

    • Somehow the high school principal asking me not to wear a Fritz the Cat t-shirt to school again in 1973 pales in comparison. . .

  10. Cory & Erika’s Facebook page posted this story too… I’ll leave the same comment here that I left there:

    Unless the school specifically states that in its uniform policy that a shirt like this is not allowed, they’re clearly in the wrong. As someone who works in education, I’m all too familiar with the fact that some teachers (who shouldn’t be teaching) can’t handle being challenged by a student. It sounds like he was suspended for that rather than the t-shirt.

    Student dress codes and free speech cases have happened before… the benchmark case is Tinker v. Des Moines, where students were suspended for wearing black armbands protesting the Vietnam War.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinker_v._Des_Moines_Independent_Community_School_District

    This students’ family needs to contact the ACLU.

      • Actually, yes, they do. They don’t care about 2A specifically, but they do care about freedom of speech issues regardless of the topic, and this is clearly one.

        If you are not aware of any cases of ACLU being involved in a pro-gun legal challenge, you have not been paying attention.

    • Just like the guy in Texas who wasn’t arrested for carrying a rifle, but for disagreeing with a cop.

    • Related: have you seen the letter-to-student’s-parents circulating which calls the student (paraphrasing) defiant and disruptive for insisting that a mile is longer than a kilometer.

      Yeah. Same category: educators who are doing it wrong.

  11. This is what happens with busing programs like “Teach for America.” The government incentivizes zero tolerance, mindless zealots to evangelize their leftist public university indoctrination by offering loan pay back and bonuses.

    • And they’re all too happy to have all discernment taken out of their hands. There is no place in the police state for discernment. None whatsoever, and they like it that way.

      There is no place for intellect in the modern police state. Intellect must be discouraged strongly, and eventually wiped from the face of the planet.

    • Nah. Already decided by the US Supreme Court. Schools have nearly absolute say in this, and it applies even when the student is not in school.

  13. It would be completely cool if it was a Malcolm X “by any means necessary” t-shirt with a submachine gun on it.

  14. But the girls can wear those skimpy form fitting clothes like that does not deter the educational process.

    • Yoga pants would have completely negated my high school educational experience, if they’d been around. As it is, they routinely make me forget my grocery list.

        • Ya but Matt is right. We live in the age of the yoga pants. And I’ll tell you what I’m loving it. It’s a beautiful thing.

        • Agree, yoga pants are cool. In the day they wore halters made of scarves and who can forget tube tops. Talk about wardrobe malfunctions.

      • yoga pants are the reason why our family as been under the threat of producing another child for the past couple of years.

    • Shawn, the easiest way to handle boys that are to distracted to learn is to set up seperate schools for seperate sexes. It works real well in enlightened places like Astan.

  15. The Supreme Court has ruled that children’s speech can be limited by schools, whether in or out of school, as much as the school wishes. This will get worse before it gets better.

    • This is ***NOT*** true. The test is the “material disruption” of the school environment, from the Tinker case. Since then, the Supreme Court has also ruled sexual innuendo can be banned in a student government campaign speech, and a student could be punished for a “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” sign at a school event.

      This shirt doesn’t get anywhere near those cases – no drugs, no sexual innuendo. It’s protected speech. Further, the explicit political message on the shirt gets it more protection.

      I’m at work and don’t have more time, but this is not even a close call legally.

      • It shouldn’t be, but it is easily within the standard of Bethel, which says they can limit speech that is offensive to community standards. How on Earth are you supposed to measure that? The school community is easily offended by pictures of guns and threats to defend gun rights.

        • If they are offended by gun images, why fly the state flag, or for that matter keep a doughboy statue on school grounds? They do not seem to have a problem with those images of firearms. So the school can display images which it subsequently harasses students for, even though it is not cited in the school’s dress code. Does this not seem hypocritical?

        • This is what the court found could be banned in the Bethel case: “We hold that petitioner School District acted entirely within its permissible authority in imposing sanctions upon Fraser in response to his offensively lewd and indecent speech.”

          “Offensively lewd and indecent.” There’s no way the innocuous NRA T-shirt at issue here even comes within a country mile of that standard.

          For the curious, here is what the student actually said in the Bethel case (this speech was given as part of a student government race, and the Supreme Court found that a 2-day suspension was constitutionally permissible). For what it’s worth, I think the Bethel case was decided wrongly, but certainly reasonable minds can disagree.

          [From the Supreme Court decision in Bethel]

          Respondent gave the following speech at a high school assembly in support of a candidate for student government office:

          “`I know a man who is firm – he’s firm in his pants, he’s firm in his shirt, his character is firm – but most . . . of all, his belief in you, the students of Bethel, is firm.

          “`Jeff Kuhlman is a man who takes his point and pounds it in. If necessary, he’ll take an issue and nail it to the wall. He doesn’t attack things in spurts – he drives hard, pushing and pushing until finally – he succeeds.

          “`Jeff is a man who will go to the very end – even the climax, for each and every one of you.

          “`So vote for Jeff for A. S. B. vice-president – he’ll never come between you and the best our high school can be.'”

  16. The anti-2A crowd was unable to get national legislation to their liking passed. The new strategy will be death via a thousand cuts. Any person or entity of the anti persuasion that has any power over individuals will impose/enforce anti gun ideology on those around them. Those who stand up and refuse to be toe the line will be made examples of. Welcome to the New National Order….If we can’t take your guns-we’ll make you suffer for having them, or simply liking them.

    • More like a “concentration camp”. Just look up north, Bloomberg is trying to control everything you can and cant do.

  20. Back in my school days the only problem with a shirt like that would have been the lack of sleeves. We also had JROTC on campus and had occasional drill practice with de-militarized M1903 rifles. Add to that the existence of an indoor firing range on the other high school campus in the district which was used by students from both schools.

  21. Simple solution, make all the Obama youth wear the same govt approved uniform, something from the Mao or FUBU collection.

  22. I think the kid and his dad should make a T-shirt business to sell T-shirts that look like the Statue of the School or the State Flag.

  23. This today was in the local news….

    Eighth grader suspended over t-shirt returns to school

    The eighth grader taken out of school on April 18 for refusing to change his shirt has returned to school today.
    Jared Marcum was first pulled out of school on Thursday when he refused to change his shirt which displayed a rifle and the words “NRA: Protect Your Rights.”
    According to the juvenile prosecuting attorney charges have not been filed against Marcum but they did confirm that he was arrested by Logan City Police on Thursday afternoon and that an investigation is underway.
    According to the Logan City Police Dept., officers were called at the school’s request. Officers arrested Jared and took him to the Logan City Police Dept., he was then transferred to the Logan County Courthouse where his father picked him up.

    Jared’s attorney, Ben White, is petitioning to get the school’s surveillance video and says a civil lawsuit is imminent for violating Jared’s first amendment rights.
    Today, Logan County Schools superintendent Wilma Zigmond told 13 News that she could not discuss Jared’s case. Logan Middle School did, however, give Jared’s father paperwork for the one-day suspension Jared served on Friday.

    http://www.wowktv.com/story/22041738/eighth-grader-suspended-over-t-shirt-returns-to-school-wv-logan-middle-school-jared-marcum

  24. When I was in high school, I played the character of Jud in “Oklahoma!”, and fired my father’s Ruger Blackhawk .357 magnum on stage (using blanks, of course). With the director’s permission, mind you.

    My, how times have changed…

  27. It looks like he’s wearing an upside-down artichoke for a hat. Is he related to the Little Green Sprout?

  28. Another day in this great oppressive concentration camp known as America. And my fiance wonders why I’ll never agree to let my child attend a public indoctrination center…er, school.

    I wonder if he would have been suspended if he wore a shirt with a rifle that said “Repeal the 2a”

    These brainless schools and their fascist policies must be made to suffer. Any liberty-minded parent or student should don this same apparel and walk in there, make the school get into so many petty lawsuits that they go broke.

    Sounds like the father at least refuses to bow to Obama’s propaganda ministers. If I were him, I’d sit my son down and be sure he knows that this illegal arrest is a badge of honor for him and that I was proud of him, and he did nothing wrong. Perhaps the son’s old enough to learn the somber fact that he’s part of what will be the last generation of free Americans.

  29. I brought this up at work yesterday with a couple of fellow officers and we were just dumbfounded; I’d really like one of the schools in my jurisdiction to call something like this in…There’s no way in hell I’m arresting a kid for wearing that shirt, or even doing anything more than making a report for the record stating that the complaint was unfounded. IMO the teacher is the one guilty of disturbing the educational process. I’d like to see the criminal complaint…

    I hope he makes out well in court!

    • Like everyone else here, I don’t have all the facts, but he wasn’t arrested for the shirt, but rather for his behavior after he was informed he wasn’t in dress code.

      There is absolutely nothing wrong with the shirt, and as the dress code reads he was not in violation of it and should not have been called out on it. However, as an educator working with middle school kids I’m aware they often push and test the limits of the dress code. Faculty has to DAILY make numerous determinations of what is or is not in within code. I believe the teacher or administrator made a bad call BUT once they made a decision the student is obligated to comply with it. If he disagreed the proper course of action would have been for him to comply, go home and inform his parents who could then address the issue as they see fit in a mature & appropriate manner. There is a correct process to discuss issues like this without having to be all confrontational. Students are NOT expected to argue with faculty and any school that allows students to do so quickly lose control and chaos reigns. I don’t know how vehemently he argued and can’t, and won’t, speculate if an arrest was necessary, but from personal experience I have seen many students who have a false sense of entitlement and unfounded self-righteousness that they become out of control, sometimes violently so, requiring law enforcement intervention.

      • “If he disagreed the proper course of action would have been for him to comply …”

        This is the problem. We are BRAINWASHING people to ALWAYS comply with school, police, and government no matter what.

        Example 1:
        A student in my ninth grade class had a case of the giggles. He sincerely tried really hard to suppress his laughter but an occasional quiet sound escaped. The teacher, a very large man, came over, grabbed him by his hair and proceeded to rip the student up out of the seat … and then shake his head like a rag doll while yelling at the kid and threatening him. If an adult had done that to a ninth grade aged child at a grocery store, they would be spending a lot of time in prison for aggravated assault. And what did all the students in the class do? Nothing. What did the school district do? Nothing. What should all of the students in the entire class have done? They should have immediately tackled that teacher who had obviously lost control. But they did not because they are supposed to comply.

        Example 2:
        A school district near me had a zero tolerance policy for fighting in school. They actually told students that they could not fight back to protect themselves if someone attacked them. The school quite literally expected the students to be punching bags and sustain life threatening injuries without fighting back. Of course the school expects the students to comply.

        These sort of “standards” have no place anywhere in our nation. And yet they exist. We do not have an obligation to comply with criminals who assault us. We do not have an obligation to comply with schools policies that denigrate us. We have an obligation to reject such insanity.

        Caveat: I am not condoning belligerent behavior or acting out to disrupt the cooperative environment at school. I am condoning that people act assertively to defend their basic rights and human dignity … and doing that as respectfully and non-violently as possible.

        • You raise valid points. I’m not trying to imply he, or anyone else, should passively submit without a whimper. We don’t know how the faculty approached him, or how he reacted. Yet, maintaining good order and discipline is essential in the school and that’s what I’m trying to emphasize. It’s a difficult balancing act to educate independent and self-assertive individuals and maintain an environment conducive to learning without unnecessary distractions and interruptions. It’s entirely plausible the school is at fault for instigating him, I don’t know based on the meager facts available. Thanks for your insight and input.

  30. I was just happy to see that when KMOV reported this here in the StL they called that a HUNTING RIFLE rather than another commonly mis-used name!

  31. do you think the student would have been singled out, if he had been wearing a t-shirt saying ”help obama ban assault rifles”with a picture of the weapon on his t-shirt?

    • I saw another update on another forum and the lawyer has already filed a civil rights law suite.

  33. He went back to school today with the SAME shirt on, accompanied by a lawyer and his Dad. Bad azz…….100% support from me.

    • Unnecessary provocation….but I LOVE it! I just hope his actions were above reproach the first time around.

      • Of all the 55 counties in my state I can’t think of a worse one for a ‘teacher’ to pull such an asshole stunt . I don’t expect that that ‘teacher’ is going to enjoy a long career in Logan County .

  34. The one who should have been arrested is an over zealous teacher. The student was merely exercising their 1st Amendment right to protect their 2nd Amendment right. How on earth is that a crime?
    Would the same student be arrested if the shirt supported the Pro-Choice movement? Most likely not.

    Liberals are mentally ill.

  35. Just add another reason to why I have absolutely no respect or admiration for most teachers and most of those who run our schools. I once said to my mother, who used to be a teacher, “Dang, mommy! After seeing all you have accomplished with all those college degrees of yours, you might as well just take all those diplomas you’ve got & go wipe your ass with them!”

    • So far I have the name of the student ( Jared Marcum ), the name of the school ( Logan Middle School ), the name of the town ( Logan, West Virginia ), and the name of the School Superintendent (Wilma Zigmund ). Can anyone supply the names of the teacher that initiated the action, the arresting officer, the Chief of Police, the Distrisct Attorney (or Assistant DA) and if a Judge has been involved or selected, his or her name? The way to squash this kind of localized madness is to put names on the players, supply regional, statewide and national media (like Fox News) with all the details, and let them do their magic until massive public exposure and pressure on the fools involved ruins them, pounds them into submission or runs them out of town. You know, the Chicago/Saul Alinsky method…..KJB

  38. Another update: http://www.wowktv.com/story/22674521/prosecution-attempts-to-silence-jared-marcum-with-gag-order-reporter-covering-story-threatened-with-arrest

    Prosecution attempts to silence Jared Marcum with gag order; reporter covering story threatened with arrest

    WOWK has been the only news outlet following every new development in the case of Jared Marcum, the Logan County, West Virginia student who was suspended, arrested and is now facing an obstruction charge after refusing to change his NRA shirt at school. On Monday morning, June 24, Jared’s case took yet another turn.

    Nearly two weeks before Jared, the 14-year-old at the center of the “T-Shirt Control Controversy”, was scheduled to be back in court, he found himself inside of the Logan County Courthouse for an emergency gag order hearing requested by prosecutors Christopher White and Sabrina Deskins.

    “We were here because the prosecution filed a motion for a gag order,” Jared’s attorney Ben White said. “My opinion is because, seemingly, they want to take it out of the court of public opinion.”

    Prosecutors were hoping to bar Jared, his father and his lawyer from sharing their story with the press, under the guise that their request would serve Jared’s better interest, something Jared’s father Allen Lardieri sees as ironic.

    “It was for Jared’s better interest is what I was told, which seems to be a bit odd to me,” Lardieri said. “These are the same individuals that are trying to prosecute him, so as far as them knowing what is in his better interest, I have a lot of questions about that.”

    Charlo Greene, on behalf of WOWK and the free press, prepared a petition to intervene for the gag order hearing but before Charlo could present her argument or even deliver her petition to the court clerk, she was thrown out of the Logan County Courthouse, twice, by a bailiff, who said the judge presiding over Jared’s case, Eric O’Briant requested it. Charlo was then threatened with arrest and the same charge that Jared is currently on trial for, obstructing an officer.

    Meanwhile, Jared met with prosecutors who withdrew their petition for a gag order, on the condition that Jared’s parent waive the confidentiality that bars the prosecution from speaking freely about his case, due to him being a minor.

    Jared, who is now facing the possibility of up to a year in jail, or juvenile confinement and up to a $500 fine for an obstruction charge that police say hinges on the fact that he refused to stop talking when they arrived at Logan Middle School to arrest him on April 18, is expected to be back in court on July 11.

    Jared’s attorney Ben White says he will continue working to have the charges against Jared thrown out.

    The prosecutors and arresting officer refused to answer any of WOWK’s questions.

Comments are closed.