Katie Sierra suspension controversy
Encyclopedia
The Katie Sierra suspension controversy began in October 2001 when high school student Katie Sierra was suspended
from Sissonville High School
for her activism in opposition to the bombing of Afghanistan
. The fifteen-year old Sierra was engaged in anti-war activism at her school, near Charleston, West Virginia
, wearing clothes with handwritten messages objecting to U.S. militarism
, racism
, sexism
, and homophobia
. She applied for permission to start an anarchist club at the school, and was denied by the school's principal. Her attempts at publicizing the club led to her being suspended from school for three days. Incendiary comments by the principal and the members of the school board were reported in the press and provoked a controversy that garnered national and international media attention.
Following verbal and physical assaults by Sierra's fellow students, her mother withdrew her from the school and, with the assistance of the American Civil Liberties Union
, they initiated legal action against the headmaster and the school board. Initially unsuccessful and subject to various setbacks, these efforts eventually succeeded in overturning the school's decision not to allow the club, although the propriety of other actions by the school was upheld. Sierra briefly returned to Sissonville High in August 2002 before again withdrawing over peer harassment after less than a week. The actions and attitude of the school toward Sierra were sharply criticized in the media for what critics perceived as censorship
and McCarthyism
, as a dark sign of post–September 11th
American society and its concept of freedom of speech
.
into a military family; her father served in the U.S. Army and was later a contractor employee of the military, in which two of her uncles also served. During Sierra's childhood, her family moved around frequently; prior to attending Sissonville High School
in Pocatalico, West Virginia
(a community near Charleston
), she had attended eleven schools and lived in Panama
, New Mexico
, Ohio
and Kentucky
.
Sierra identified as an anarchist-pacifist
opposed to all violence
and advocating "a peaceful revolution". In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks
, she was taken aback by the wave of "flag-waving", increasing patriotism
and "blind, unthinking" advocacy of war on the part of her fellow students, who she believed ignored existing problems such as racism
and homophobia
. Although described as a "good student with no history of behavioral problems", she soon became embroiled in a controversy at the Charleston-area high school. On October 23, 2001 Sierra asked the school's principal, Forrest Mann, if she could start an anarchist
club at the school, after reading about the subject on Infoshop.org
. Among the possible club activities she mentioned were reading and discussion group
s and community service
, while flyers for the club also proposed starting a zine
(called the Anny) and a chapter of Food Not Bombs
. The club's manifesto
declared "[t]his anarchist club will not tolerate hate or violence…It is our final goal to dispel myths about anarchism, especially the belief that anarchy is chaos and destruction". Without reading Sierra's literature, Mann refused to grant permission for such a club in the school, and according to Sierra had to ask her several times to return to class when he would not explain his decision.
Sierra attended class wearing T-shirts with handwritten political slogans, a practice she claimed to have adopted long before the September 11, 2001 attacks: among the messages written on the T-shirts were "Against Bush
, Against Bin Laden
" and "When I saw the dead and dying Afghani children on TV, I felt a newly recovered sense of national security. God bless America." Classmates of Sierra informed reporters of their intention to give her a taste of "West Virginia justice". After reading the back of Sierra's T-shirt, fellow student and aspirant U.S. Marine
Jacob Reed allegedly told her, "If you don't like this country, then fucking leave", and was subsequently detained. The day of the incident, Mann summoned Sierra to his office and told her she would no longer be allowed to wear the shirts, and claimed that Sierra had violated his prior orders by making flyers for the club available to other students. Mann suspended
her for three days, on the charge of disrupting the education of her fellow students.
, who agreed to take up her cause. The issue was considered settled after a meeting between Sierra, the ACLU, Sierra's mother and Mann, until a meeting of the school's board of education on October 29, the day of Sierra's return to school. The meeting discussed the events of the previous week, and some board members were initially sympathetic to Sierra. However, comments turned hostile towards the end of the meeting, with Sierra being told "[t]his isn't something funny or cute…[y]ou're talking about overthrowing the government", and having her actions characterized as "like you stood up and waved a Japanese flag on Pearl Harbor day
". In reference to Sierra, president of the board Bill Raglin asked "[w]hat the hell is wrong with a kid like that?" and board member John Luoni accused Sierra of committing treason
. Sierra fled the meeting in tears. The following day, The Charleston Gazette
published comments by Mann to the effect that the messages on Sierra's T-shirts included "I hope Afghanistan wins" and "America should burn."; Mann later claimed he had been misquoted, and that he had taken his information from Jacob Reed. Students spit on Sierra's mother's car at Sissonville High, and her friends' parents wouldn't give her rides home from school. Threats, taunting, jeering by her fellow students escalated into physical assaults, and Sierra's mother pulled her out of school; the threats would ultimately cause Sierra to move out of the town. Sierra voiced her belief that people at Sissonville High were permitted to talk about how they felt about certain things, so long as there were others who agreed with them. She denied being anti-American
, and that anarchism implies support for terrorism
, countering that it is an anti-authoritarian
and non-violent
philosophy.
circuit court. Sierra's pro bono
lawyers claimed that Mann was responsible for disruption, and that he could have taken the opportunity to teach his students about tolerance and constitutional rights instead of making misleading and incendiary comments in the media. The defense countered by saying constitutional rights did not apply equally to adults and students, with the latter not having the same latitude with regards to freedom of speech. Judge James Stucky rejected Sierra's request for a preliminary injunction on November 2, citing her voluntary withdrawal from the county school system, but scheduled a jury trial for her lawsuit for June 24. Stucky ruled that while Sierra was free to believe what she wanted and to express those beliefs, those rights were "not absolute" in a school setting and that the disruption she had caused there overrode her right to free speech. Stucky further declared that he could not guarantee her safety at Sissonville High School. The West Virginia Supreme Court voted 3-2 on November 27 against considering Sierra's petition to prevent the lower court from "continuing to deny her freedom of speech".
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Motivated by boredom and antipathy towards what she saw as the "backward…narrow-minded…racist and sexist" residents of Charleston, Sierra ran away from home on April 8, 2002. Accompanied by a 24-year-old friend, Holly Elizabeth Taylor, she hitched
rides with truckers to Raleigh, North Carolina
. There, the self-proclaimed "road sisters" took in a concert by Tanya Donelly
, whose attempts to convince them to turn back were futile. Although Sierra successfully eluded the police, Taylor was discovered by Sierra's mother and a private detective she had hired, forcing Sierra to continue alone to South Carolina
where she stayed with a friend. Her mother and the private detective tracked her down after tracing her phone calls to friends, and they returned to West Virginia. Commenting on the escapade, Sierra declared "You're never free. You're always trapped. This is a corrupt society. I'm paranoid to even use the phone anymore."
The ACLU lawyers decided to drop their suit on June 5 of that year after learning that Sierra had moved out of her mother's home and intended on traveling through Oregon
, and therefore would not be present at the trial date. A day later, they reversed their decision after consulting with Sierra's mother, who had to file the suit on behalf of her daughter (a minor
at the time).
and several major Japan
ese newspapers and television shows, as well as a gallery packed with supporters of both sides.
At the trial, Sierra's former English teacher Jean McCutcheon testified that Sierra's activities at Sissonville High had caused a "simmering feeling", and that she had counseled Sierra that it was a "terrible time in history" to start a club such as the one proposed. Jacob Reed, the student who had been detained for his comments to Sierra, testified that the "only reason" for Sierra's actions was that she "wants attention". He also claimed that Sierra told him she hoped America would lose the War in Afghanistan
, and asked why Sierra was opposed to what he saw was "pretty much payback" for the September 11, 2001 attacks
.
Jason Huber, one of Sierra's lawyers, proposed that Principal Mann had missed "a great teaching moment for the students at Sissonville High School", declaring that "instead of teaching them about the Constitution, he was teaching them intolerance. He praised Sierra's critical thinking and readiness to challenge authority, calling her "the kind of student we want", and arguing that "popular speech, acceptable speech, does not need protection,… [y]ou don't shed that right at the schoolhouse door." Representing the Kanawha County Board of Education, lawyer Gary Pullin tried to convince jurors of the necessity of limiting individual rights on occasions where freedom of expression interfered with education, justifying Mann's actions as a response to the distress of some students at the school at Sierra's conduct and appearance. Pullin asserted that "the mood and atmosphere of [Mann's] school changed" after the September 11, 2001 attacks, with an "increased polarization and a mood of rising anger" dividing the student body between a patriotic majority loyal to the government and "a small group of students ... who opposed the patriotic movement". "The mere suggestion", he proposed, of an anarchist club "resulted in significant disruptions in the classroom and congregations in the halls … [i]t took over Sissonville High School." He acknowledged that students had threatened Sierra with "West Virginia justice", crediting Mann for protecting Sierra in this regard.
The philosophy of anarchism
was also a point of contention during the trial. Gordon Simmons, an adjunct professor of philosophy at West Virginia State University
and Marshall University
, testified as Sierra's final witness. His testimony included explanations of the philosophy espoused by Sierra's proposed club, its impact on American social and political movements, and the notion that anarchists had historically been unjustly persecuted in American courts, citing such examples as the trials of the Haymarket affair
and Sacco and Vanzetti
. The lawyer for the school officials countered that anarchism had prominent ties to terrorism and assassination
, and referred to Timothy McVeigh
and Theodore Kaczynski
as anarchists. On July 12, the court ruled that Sierra had been justly suspended and forbidden to wear the T-shirts, but had been improperly denied the right to start a club, and awarded her the $1 in damages she sought. Attorneys for both Kanawha County and Sierra asked that those parts of the verdict that went against their client, requesting that Kanawha Chief Circuit Judge James C. Stucky throw out the jury's verdict, finding it to be inconsistent, and that he rule himself instead.
band Anti-Flag
– as a possible trigger of her negative reception. Although she had secured a sponsor for the anarchist club, McKinney did not grant his approval, citing the need for a lengthy legal confirmation process. After attending Sissonville High for five days, Sierra dropped out of the school. Judge Stucky subsequently ruled that she would be allowed sit General Educational Development tests (which would allow her to apply for university) in lieu of finishing high school.
praised Mann's decision, calling Sierra's "thoroughly egocentric exercise" of her constitutional rights "tiresome". The Daily Mail expanded on its position in a July 15, 2002 editorial; while noting Justice Lewis Powell's declaration that full constitutional rights did not apply equally in school as in criminal justice, the paper commented that "students do have rights as long as they are not disrupting the education of others", and that while Sierra's request to form an anarchist club "may have seemed bizarre and even oxymoronic", Principal Mann ought to have permitted it "since it would not harm or impinge upon the rights of others". It went on to praise the jury's decision that Sierra had no constitutional right to wear her T-shirts to class or to disobey the authority of Mann but that she did have the right to express her opinions after class, calling it "the essence of Americanism … a great system that makes anarchy look silly".
In a July 30, 2002 editorial for the Gazette, retired West Virginia State College economist Aaron Metz identified two issues arising from the affair; freedom of speech and "freedom from fear", writing "Freedom of speech suffers in an environment of fear. Katie was afraid to go to school because law and order ceased to exist there." Metz observed that the story had caught the attention of Poles, some of whom wanted Sierra to come and study in their country, and to the Japanese, whose response he called "more irrational", saying they "didn't want her; they just wanted to get that T-shirt in their hands" and were "making fun of West Virginia, a state 50th in education, for expelling a good student - a sort of sideshow using Katie and her T-shirt on TV for entertainment". In the context of adult control of adolescent expression, a December 2003 editorial in the Gazette wrote that the Sissonville High's administrators "overreacted" in Sierra's case, feeding a backlash against the student instead of "taking advantage of her youthful energy and curiosity to craft meaningful civics lessons".
, pledged his support for Sierra, personally emailing her to encourage her and offered to attend further court proceedings. Sierra reported, "he said he'd be in the front row of the courtroom..." Crispin Sartwell
, a journalist, individualist anarchist and philosophy professor at the Maryland Institute College of Art
, praised Sierra as "an American hero", and her actions as "contributions to rather than disruptions of the educational process". Of her suspension, Sartwell wrote, "The notion that truth is reached by the repression of dissent is the kind of claptrap that is believed - or at least implemented - by dictators and high school administrators." In a July 28, 2002 article for California's Contra Costa Times
, Sartwell wrote that Sierra's T-shirts "were contributions to, rather than disruptions of, the educational process", and made the comment "That a jury could support the decision of Sissonville High School's sad little martinets only shows how wide is the incomprehension with which some basic Americans regard basic American principles."
British political writer George Monbiot
decried Sierra's treatment, citing it as an example of state persecution
and the erosion of civil liberties
in the United States, while journalist Amy Goodman
characterized it as evidence of "a new McCarthyism
". Charles C Haynes, senior scholar at the First Amendment Center
, also situated the controversy in the context of the freedom of expression debate, criticising the school for allowing a "heckler's veto" to censor Sierra and the school district for spending "more than US$
75,000 fighting to keep her quiet". A New York University
drama project investigating post-9/11 America composed a theater piece, United We Stand, inspired by Sierra's actions. The Thomas Jefferson Center
, an organization dedicated to the protection of freedom of expression, highlighted the controversy in 2002 and awarded the Kanawha school board and principal Forest Mann with their annual "Jefferson Muzzle" award. Highlighting a quote by Katie Sierra ("There are many types of anarchy. I want us to unite as one instead of having some government over top of us.") the center wrote, "While school officials have the authority to prevent disruption of school activities, such authority should not be used as a pretext to stifle expression with which they disagree. Moreover, a high school student who shows an active interest in the important issues of the day and who takes the initiative to form a club to pursue that interest should be commended."
Sierra was one of the "heroes" of Pulitzer Prize
-winning author Dale Maharidge
's Homeland, an examination of the mind-set behind the United States' alleged post-9/11 jingoism
and suppression of dissent. Portraying her as an unconventional and "good-hearted kid," Maharidge reported that Sierra took a telemarketing
job following the cessation of the controversy: "She was supposed to make two sales a day. The first day, she made five sales, and continued at that rate. When I again talked with her in the winter, she was living in a dorm and attending Marshall University
in West Virginia. She was happy and her only complaint was that the classes were too easy."
Katie Sierra interviews
Articles [Revised: ]
Suspension (punishment)
Suspension is a form of punishment that people receive for violating rules and regulations.- Workplace :Suspension is a common practice in the workplace for being in violation of an organization's policy...
from Sissonville High School
Sissonville High School
Sissonville High School is a public high school in Kanawha County, West Virginia. It is located in Sissonville, West Virginia, more specifically Pocatalico, which is a suburb of Charleston.- Activities :*Student Council*Yearbook*Academic Honorary...
for her activism in opposition to the bombing of Afghanistan
War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
The War in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001, as the armed forces of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Afghan United Front launched Operation Enduring Freedom...
. The fifteen-year old Sierra was engaged in anti-war activism at her school, near Charleston, West Virginia
Charleston, West Virginia
Charleston is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is located at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha Rivers in Kanawha County. As of the 2010 census, it has a population of 51,400, and its metropolitan area 304,214. It is the county seat of Kanawha County.Early...
, wearing clothes with handwritten messages objecting to U.S. militarism
Militarism
Militarism is defined as: the belief or desire of a government or people that a country should maintain a strong military capability and be prepared to use it aggressively to defend or promote national interests....
, racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
, sexism
Sexism
Sexism, also known as gender discrimination or sex discrimination, is the application of the belief or attitude that there are characteristics implicit to one's gender that indirectly affect one's abilities in unrelated areas...
, and homophobia
Homophobia
Homophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...
. She applied for permission to start an anarchist club at the school, and was denied by the school's principal. Her attempts at publicizing the club led to her being suspended from school for three days. Incendiary comments by the principal and the members of the school board were reported in the press and provoked a controversy that garnered national and international media attention.
Following verbal and physical assaults by Sierra's fellow students, her mother withdrew her from the school and, with the assistance of the American Civil Liberties Union
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...
, they initiated legal action against the headmaster and the school board. Initially unsuccessful and subject to various setbacks, these efforts eventually succeeded in overturning the school's decision not to allow the club, although the propriety of other actions by the school was upheld. Sierra briefly returned to Sissonville High in August 2002 before again withdrawing over peer harassment after less than a week. The actions and attitude of the school toward Sierra were sharply criticized in the media for what critics perceived as censorship
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
and McCarthyism
McCarthyism
McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. The term has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s and characterized by...
, as a dark sign of post–September 11th
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
American society and its concept of freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship. The term freedom of expression is sometimes used synonymously, but includes any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used...
.
Background and suspension
Katie Sierra was born in PanamaPanama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
into a military family; her father served in the U.S. Army and was later a contractor employee of the military, in which two of her uncles also served. During Sierra's childhood, her family moved around frequently; prior to attending Sissonville High School
Sissonville High School
Sissonville High School is a public high school in Kanawha County, West Virginia. It is located in Sissonville, West Virginia, more specifically Pocatalico, which is a suburb of Charleston.- Activities :*Student Council*Yearbook*Academic Honorary...
in Pocatalico, West Virginia
Pocatalico, West Virginia
Pocatalico is an unincorporated community in Kanawha County, West Virginia, United States. Pocatalico is located along Interstate 77 south of and near Sissonville....
(a community near Charleston
Charleston, West Virginia
Charleston is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is located at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha Rivers in Kanawha County. As of the 2010 census, it has a population of 51,400, and its metropolitan area 304,214. It is the county seat of Kanawha County.Early...
), she had attended eleven schools and lived in Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
, New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
and Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
.
Anarcho-pacifism
Anarcho-pacifism is a tendency within the anarchist movement which rejects the use of violence in the struggle for social change. The main early influences were the thought of Henry David Thoreau and Leo Tolstoy while later the ideas of Mohandas Gandhi gained importance...
opposed to all violence
Violence
Violence is the use of physical force to apply a state to others contrary to their wishes. violence, while often a stand-alone issue, is often the culmination of other kinds of conflict, e.g...
and advocating "a peaceful revolution". In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
, she was taken aback by the wave of "flag-waving", increasing patriotism
Patriotism
Patriotism is a devotion to one's country, excluding differences caused by the dependencies of the term's meaning upon context, geography and philosophy...
and "blind, unthinking" advocacy of war on the part of her fellow students, who she believed ignored existing problems such as racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
and homophobia
Homophobia
Homophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...
. Although described as a "good student with no history of behavioral problems", she soon became embroiled in a controversy at the Charleston-area high school. On October 23, 2001 Sierra asked the school's principal, Forrest Mann, if she could start an anarchist
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
club at the school, after reading about the subject on Infoshop.org
Infoshop.org
- History :Infoshop was founded in January 1995 as the Mid-Atlantic Infoshop by Chuck Munson. Having previously co-founded an online archive of anarchist texts, the Spunk Library, in 1992, Munson established Infoshop as a general resource on anarchism, moving to the domain name Infoshop.org in 1998...
. Among the possible club activities she mentioned were reading and discussion group
Discussion group
A discussion group is an online forum for individuals to discuss various topics amongst each other. People add their comments by posting a block of text to the group. Others can then comment and respond. In the early days of the Internet, USENET was the most popular type of discussion group, but...
s and community service
Community service
Community service is donated service or activity that is performed by someone or a group of people for the benefit of the public or its institutions....
, while flyers for the club also proposed starting a zine
Zine
A zine is most commonly a small circulation publication of original or appropriated texts and images. More broadly, the term encompasses any self-published work of minority interest usually reproduced via photocopier....
(called the Anny) and a chapter of Food Not Bombs
Food Not Bombs
Food Not Bombs is a loose-knit group of independent collectives, serving free vegan and vegetarian food to others. Food Not Bombs' ideology is that myriad corporate and government priorities are skewed to allow hunger to persist in the midst of abundance...
. The club's manifesto
Manifesto
A manifesto is a public declaration of principles and intentions, often political in nature. Manifestos relating to religious belief are generally referred to as creeds. Manifestos may also be life stance-related.-Etymology:...
declared "[t]his anarchist club will not tolerate hate or violence…It is our final goal to dispel myths about anarchism, especially the belief that anarchy is chaos and destruction". Without reading Sierra's literature, Mann refused to grant permission for such a club in the school, and according to Sierra had to ask her several times to return to class when he would not explain his decision.
Sierra attended class wearing T-shirts with handwritten political slogans, a practice she claimed to have adopted long before the September 11, 2001 attacks: among the messages written on the T-shirts were "Against Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
, Against Bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
" and "When I saw the dead and dying Afghani children on TV, I felt a newly recovered sense of national security. God bless America." Classmates of Sierra informed reporters of their intention to give her a taste of "West Virginia justice". After reading the back of Sierra's T-shirt, fellow student and aspirant U.S. Marine
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
Jacob Reed allegedly told her, "If you don't like this country, then fucking leave", and was subsequently detained. The day of the incident, Mann summoned Sierra to his office and told her she would no longer be allowed to wear the shirts, and claimed that Sierra had violated his prior orders by making flyers for the club available to other students. Mann suspended
Suspension (punishment)
Suspension is a form of punishment that people receive for violating rules and regulations.- Workplace :Suspension is a common practice in the workplace for being in violation of an organization's policy...
her for three days, on the charge of disrupting the education of her fellow students.
Controversy
The suspended Sierra then contacted the American Civil Liberties UnionAmerican Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...
, who agreed to take up her cause. The issue was considered settled after a meeting between Sierra, the ACLU, Sierra's mother and Mann, until a meeting of the school's board of education on October 29, the day of Sierra's return to school. The meeting discussed the events of the previous week, and some board members were initially sympathetic to Sierra. However, comments turned hostile towards the end of the meeting, with Sierra being told "[t]his isn't something funny or cute…[y]ou're talking about overthrowing the government", and having her actions characterized as "like you stood up and waved a Japanese flag on Pearl Harbor day
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
". In reference to Sierra, president of the board Bill Raglin asked "[w]hat the hell is wrong with a kid like that?" and board member John Luoni accused Sierra of committing treason
Treason
In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
. Sierra fled the meeting in tears. The following day, The Charleston Gazette
The Charleston Gazette
The Charleston Gazette is a five-day morning newspaper in Charleston, West Virginia. It is published Monday through Friday mornings. On Saturday and Sunday mornings the combined Charleston Gazette-Mail is published, which is, more or less, similar to the Gazette.The Gazette was established in...
published comments by Mann to the effect that the messages on Sierra's T-shirts included "I hope Afghanistan wins" and "America should burn."; Mann later claimed he had been misquoted, and that he had taken his information from Jacob Reed. Students spit on Sierra's mother's car at Sissonville High, and her friends' parents wouldn't give her rides home from school. Threats, taunting, jeering by her fellow students escalated into physical assaults, and Sierra's mother pulled her out of school; the threats would ultimately cause Sierra to move out of the town. Sierra voiced her belief that people at Sissonville High were permitted to talk about how they felt about certain things, so long as there were others who agreed with them. She denied being anti-American
Anti-Americanism
The term Anti-Americanism, or Anti-American Sentiment, refers to broad opposition or hostility to the people, policies, culture or government of the United States...
, and that anarchism implies support for terrorism
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
, countering that it is an anti-authoritarian
Anti-authoritarian
Anti-authoritarianism is opposition to authoritarianism, which is defined as a "political doctrine advocating the principle of absolute rule: absolutism, autocracy, despotism, dictatorship, totalitarianism." Anti-authoritarians usually believe in full equality before the law and strong civil...
and non-violent
Nonviolence
Nonviolence has two meanings. It can refer, first, to a general philosophy of abstention from violence because of moral or religious principle It can refer to the behaviour of people using nonviolent action Nonviolence has two (closely related) meanings. (1) It can refer, first, to a general...
philosophy.
Initial filing of lawsuit
The ACLU filed a suit on Sierra's behalf on December 9, 2001 against the school district and Mann, but the suspension was immediately upheld in the Kanawha CountyKanawha County, West Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 200,073 people, 86,226 households, and 55,960 families residing in the county. The population density was 222 people per square mile . There were 93,788 housing units at an average density of 104 per square mile...
circuit court. Sierra's pro bono
Pro bono
Pro bono publico is a Latin phrase generally used to describe professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment or at a reduced fee as a public service. It is common in the legal profession and is increasingly seen in marketing, technology, and strategy consulting firms...
lawyers claimed that Mann was responsible for disruption, and that he could have taken the opportunity to teach his students about tolerance and constitutional rights instead of making misleading and incendiary comments in the media. The defense countered by saying constitutional rights did not apply equally to adults and students, with the latter not having the same latitude with regards to freedom of speech. Judge James Stucky rejected Sierra's request for a preliminary injunction on November 2, citing her voluntary withdrawal from the county school system, but scheduled a jury trial for her lawsuit for June 24. Stucky ruled that while Sierra was free to believe what she wanted and to express those beliefs, those rights were "not absolute" in a school setting and that the disruption she had caused there overrode her right to free speech. Stucky further declared that he could not guarantee her safety at Sissonville High School. The West Virginia Supreme Court voted 3-2 on November 27 against considering Sierra's petition to prevent the lower court from "continuing to deny her freedom of speech".
Sierra's runaway
Hitchhiking
Hitchhiking is a means of transportation that is gained by asking people, usually strangers, for a ride in their automobile or other road vehicle to travel a distance that may either be short or long...
rides with truckers to Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...
. There, the self-proclaimed "road sisters" took in a concert by Tanya Donelly
Tanya Donelly
Tanya Donelly is an American Grammy-nominated singer songwriter and guitarist based in New England who co-founded Throwing Muses with her stepsister Kristin Hersh. She then went on to work in The Breeders and Belly in the 1990s...
, whose attempts to convince them to turn back were futile. Although Sierra successfully eluded the police, Taylor was discovered by Sierra's mother and a private detective she had hired, forcing Sierra to continue alone to South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
where she stayed with a friend. Her mother and the private detective tracked her down after tracing her phone calls to friends, and they returned to West Virginia. Commenting on the escapade, Sierra declared "You're never free. You're always trapped. This is a corrupt society. I'm paranoid to even use the phone anymore."
The ACLU lawyers decided to drop their suit on June 5 of that year after learning that Sierra had moved out of her mother's home and intended on traveling through Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, and therefore would not be present at the trial date. A day later, they reversed their decision after consulting with Sierra's mother, who had to file the suit on behalf of her daughter (a minor
Minor (law)
In law, a minor is a person under a certain age — the age of majority — which legally demarcates childhood from adulthood; the age depends upon jurisdiction and application, but is typically 18...
at the time).
Trial
The trial lasted five days, attracting coverage by Court TVCourt TV
truTV is an American cable television network owned by Turner Broadcasting, a subsidiary of Time Warner. The network launched as Court TV in 1991, changing to truTV in 2008...
and several major Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese newspapers and television shows, as well as a gallery packed with supporters of both sides.
At the trial, Sierra's former English teacher Jean McCutcheon testified that Sierra's activities at Sissonville High had caused a "simmering feeling", and that she had counseled Sierra that it was a "terrible time in history" to start a club such as the one proposed. Jacob Reed, the student who had been detained for his comments to Sierra, testified that the "only reason" for Sierra's actions was that she "wants attention". He also claimed that Sierra told him she hoped America would lose the War in Afghanistan
War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
The War in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001, as the armed forces of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Afghan United Front launched Operation Enduring Freedom...
, and asked why Sierra was opposed to what he saw was "pretty much payback" for the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
.
Jason Huber, one of Sierra's lawyers, proposed that Principal Mann had missed "a great teaching moment for the students at Sissonville High School", declaring that "instead of teaching them about the Constitution, he was teaching them intolerance. He praised Sierra's critical thinking and readiness to challenge authority, calling her "the kind of student we want", and arguing that "popular speech, acceptable speech, does not need protection,… [y]ou don't shed that right at the schoolhouse door." Representing the Kanawha County Board of Education, lawyer Gary Pullin tried to convince jurors of the necessity of limiting individual rights on occasions where freedom of expression interfered with education, justifying Mann's actions as a response to the distress of some students at the school at Sierra's conduct and appearance. Pullin asserted that "the mood and atmosphere of [Mann's] school changed" after the September 11, 2001 attacks, with an "increased polarization and a mood of rising anger" dividing the student body between a patriotic majority loyal to the government and "a small group of students ... who opposed the patriotic movement". "The mere suggestion", he proposed, of an anarchist club "resulted in significant disruptions in the classroom and congregations in the halls … [i]t took over Sissonville High School." He acknowledged that students had threatened Sierra with "West Virginia justice", crediting Mann for protecting Sierra in this regard.
The philosophy of anarchism
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
was also a point of contention during the trial. Gordon Simmons, an adjunct professor of philosophy at West Virginia State University
West Virginia State University
West Virginia State University is a historically black public college in Institute, West Virginia, United States. In the Charleston-metro area, the school is usually referred to simply as "State" or "West Virginia State"...
and Marshall University
Marshall University
Marshall University is a coeducational public research university in Huntington, West Virginia, United States founded in 1837, and named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States....
, testified as Sierra's final witness. His testimony included explanations of the philosophy espoused by Sierra's proposed club, its impact on American social and political movements, and the notion that anarchists had historically been unjustly persecuted in American courts, citing such examples as the trials of the Haymarket affair
Haymarket affair
The Haymarket affair was a demonstration and unrest that took place on Tuesday May 4, 1886, at the Haymarket Square in Chicago. It began as a rally in support of striking workers. An unknown person threw a dynamite bomb at police as they dispersed the public meeting...
and Sacco and Vanzetti
Sacco and Vanzetti
Ferdinando Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were anarchists who were convicted of murdering two men during a 1920 armed robbery in South Braintree, Massachusetts, United States...
. The lawyer for the school officials countered that anarchism had prominent ties to terrorism and assassination
Propaganda of the deed
Propaganda of the deed is a concept that refers to specific political actions meant to be exemplary to others...
, and referred to Timothy McVeigh
Timothy McVeigh
Timothy James McVeigh was a United States Army veteran and security guard who detonated a truck bomb in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995...
and Theodore Kaczynski
Theodore Kaczynski
Theodore John "Ted" Kaczynski , also known as the "Unabomber" , is an American mathematician, social critic, anarcho-primitivist, and Neo-Luddite who engaged in a mail bombing campaign that spanned nearly 20 years, killing three people and injuring 23 others.Kaczynski was born in Chicago, Illinois,...
as anarchists. On July 12, the court ruled that Sierra had been justly suspended and forbidden to wear the T-shirts, but had been improperly denied the right to start a club, and awarded her the $1 in damages she sought. Attorneys for both Kanawha County and Sierra asked that those parts of the verdict that went against their client, requesting that Kanawha Chief Circuit Judge James C. Stucky throw out the jury's verdict, finding it to be inconsistent, and that he rule himself instead.
Subsequent developments
The ban on her right to return to the school having been lifted, Sierra returned to Sissonville High in August 2002. In her first week back at the school, she was harassed, mocked and insulted by other students. Sissonville had by this point a new principal, Calvin McKinney who replaced Forrest Mann after the latter resigned from the school system following the controversy. McKinney identified Sierra's "questionable attire" – a T-shirt of punkPunk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band Anti-Flag
Anti-Flag
Anti-Flag is a punk rock band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States, formed in 1988. The band is well known for its outspoken political views. Much of the band's lyrics have focused on fervent anti-war activism, criticism of United States foreign policy, corporatism, U.S. wealth...
– as a possible trigger of her negative reception. Although she had secured a sponsor for the anarchist club, McKinney did not grant his approval, citing the need for a lengthy legal confirmation process. After attending Sissonville High for five days, Sierra dropped out of the school. Judge Stucky subsequently ruled that she would be allowed sit General Educational Development tests (which would allow her to apply for university) in lieu of finishing high school.
Local
The controversy over Sierra's suspension and the subsequent trial drew local, national and international media attention. Initial reaction to Sierra's actions from the local media was unsympathetic. This was later attributed by Sierra's lawyers and Dan Radmacher – editor of the Charleston Gazette – to Principal Mann's repetition in his comments to the Gazette of Jacob Reed's statements concerning Sierra's message. Sierra claims that callers to local radio stations "wanted to shoot me in the head. They wanted to send me to another country." The Charleston Daily MailCharleston Daily Mail
The Charleston Daily Mail is a Pulitzer Prize winning Monday-Friday morning newspaper in Charleston, West Virginia.-Publishing History:The Daily Mail was founded in 1914 by former Alaska Gov. Walter Eli Clark and remained the property of his heirs until 1987. Governor Clark described the newspaper...
praised Mann's decision, calling Sierra's "thoroughly egocentric exercise" of her constitutional rights "tiresome". The Daily Mail expanded on its position in a July 15, 2002 editorial; while noting Justice Lewis Powell's declaration that full constitutional rights did not apply equally in school as in criminal justice, the paper commented that "students do have rights as long as they are not disrupting the education of others", and that while Sierra's request to form an anarchist club "may have seemed bizarre and even oxymoronic", Principal Mann ought to have permitted it "since it would not harm or impinge upon the rights of others". It went on to praise the jury's decision that Sierra had no constitutional right to wear her T-shirts to class or to disobey the authority of Mann but that she did have the right to express her opinions after class, calling it "the essence of Americanism … a great system that makes anarchy look silly".
In a July 30, 2002 editorial for the Gazette, retired West Virginia State College economist Aaron Metz identified two issues arising from the affair; freedom of speech and "freedom from fear", writing "Freedom of speech suffers in an environment of fear. Katie was afraid to go to school because law and order ceased to exist there." Metz observed that the story had caught the attention of Poles, some of whom wanted Sierra to come and study in their country, and to the Japanese, whose response he called "more irrational", saying they "didn't want her; they just wanted to get that T-shirt in their hands" and were "making fun of West Virginia, a state 50th in education, for expelling a good student - a sort of sideshow using Katie and her T-shirt on TV for entertainment". In the context of adult control of adolescent expression, a December 2003 editorial in the Gazette wrote that the Sissonville High's administrators "overreacted" in Sierra's case, feeding a backlash against the student instead of "taking advantage of her youthful energy and curiosity to craft meaningful civics lessons".
National and international
National and international observers were supportive of Sierra and sharply critical of the actions of the state. John Tinker, of Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School DistrictTinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District
Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, was a decision by the United States Supreme Court that defined the constitutional rights of students in U.S. public schools...
, pledged his support for Sierra, personally emailing her to encourage her and offered to attend further court proceedings. Sierra reported, "he said he'd be in the front row of the courtroom..." Crispin Sartwell
Crispin Sartwell
Crispin Gallegher Sartwell is an American philosophy professor, self-professed individualist anarchist and journalist. He received his B.A. from the University of Maryland, College Park, his M.A. from Johns Hopkins University and his Ph.D...
, a journalist, individualist anarchist and philosophy professor at the Maryland Institute College of Art
Maryland Institute College of Art
Maryland Institute College of Art is an art and design college in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. It was founded in 1826 as the Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts, making it one of the first and oldest art colleges in the United States. In 2008, MICA was ranked #2 in the nation...
, praised Sierra as "an American hero", and her actions as "contributions to rather than disruptions of the educational process". Of her suspension, Sartwell wrote, "The notion that truth is reached by the repression of dissent is the kind of claptrap that is believed - or at least implemented - by dictators and high school administrators." In a July 28, 2002 article for California's Contra Costa Times
Contra Costa Times
The Contra Costa Times is a daily newspaper based in Walnut Creek, California, U.S.. The paper serves Contra Costa and eastern Alameda counties, in the eastern part of the San Francisco Bay Area...
, Sartwell wrote that Sierra's T-shirts "were contributions to, rather than disruptions of, the educational process", and made the comment "That a jury could support the decision of Sissonville High School's sad little martinets only shows how wide is the incomprehension with which some basic Americans regard basic American principles."
British political writer George Monbiot
George Monbiot
George Joshua Richard Monbiot is an English writer, known for his environmental and political activism. He lives in Machynlleth, Wales, writes a weekly column for The Guardian, and is the author of a number of books, including Captive State: The Corporate Takeover of Britain and Bring on the...
decried Sierra's treatment, citing it as an example of state persecution
Persecution
Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another group. The most common forms are religious persecution, ethnic persecution, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these terms. The inflicting of suffering, harassment, isolation,...
and the erosion of civil liberties
Civil liberties
Civil liberties are rights and freedoms that provide an individual specific rights such as the freedom from slavery and forced labour, freedom from torture and death, the right to liberty and security, right to a fair trial, the right to defend one's self, the right to own and bear arms, the right...
in the United States, while journalist Amy Goodman
Amy Goodman
Amy Goodman is an American progressive broadcast journalist, syndicated columnist, investigative reporter and author. Goodman is the host of Democracy Now!, an independent global news program broadcast daily on radio, television and the internet.-Early life:Goodman was born in Bay Shore, New York...
characterized it as evidence of "a new McCarthyism
McCarthyism
McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. The term has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s and characterized by...
". Charles C Haynes, senior scholar at the First Amendment Center
First Amendment Center
The First Amendment Center is an advocacy group in the United States that works to preserve and protect First Amendment freedoms through information and education. The Center serves as a forum for the study and exploration of free-expression issues, including freedom of speech, of the press and of...
, also situated the controversy in the context of the freedom of expression debate, criticising the school for allowing a "heckler's veto" to censor Sierra and the school district for spending "more than US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
75,000 fighting to keep her quiet". A New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
drama project investigating post-9/11 America composed a theater piece, United We Stand, inspired by Sierra's actions. The Thomas Jefferson Center
Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression
The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression is an independently funded organization associated with the University of Virginia and dedicated to the protection of freedom of speech. Founded in 1989 and headed by former UVA president Robert M...
, an organization dedicated to the protection of freedom of expression, highlighted the controversy in 2002 and awarded the Kanawha school board and principal Forest Mann with their annual "Jefferson Muzzle" award. Highlighting a quote by Katie Sierra ("There are many types of anarchy. I want us to unite as one instead of having some government over top of us.") the center wrote, "While school officials have the authority to prevent disruption of school activities, such authority should not be used as a pretext to stifle expression with which they disagree. Moreover, a high school student who shows an active interest in the important issues of the day and who takes the initiative to form a club to pursue that interest should be commended."
Sierra was one of the "heroes" of Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
-winning author Dale Maharidge
Dale Maharidge
Dale Maharidge is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and journalist best known for his collaborations with photographer Michael Williamson....
's Homeland, an examination of the mind-set behind the United States' alleged post-9/11 jingoism
Jingoism
Jingoism is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as extreme patriotism in the form of aggressive foreign policy. In practice, it is a country's advocation of the use of threats or actual force against other countries in order to safeguard what it perceives as its national interests...
and suppression of dissent. Portraying her as an unconventional and "good-hearted kid," Maharidge reported that Sierra took a telemarketing
Telemarketing
Telemarketing is a method of direct marketing in which a salesperson solicits prospective customers to buy products or services, either over the phone or through a subsequent face to face or Web conferencing appointment scheduled during the call.Telemarketing can also include recorded sales pitches...
job following the cessation of the controversy: "She was supposed to make two sales a day. The first day, she made five sales, and continued at that rate. When I again talked with her in the winter, she was living in a dorm and attending Marshall University
Marshall University
Marshall University is a coeducational public research university in Huntington, West Virginia, United States founded in 1837, and named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States....
in West Virginia. She was happy and her only complaint was that the classes were too easy."
See also
- Student activismStudent activismStudent activism is work done by students to effect political, environmental, economic, or social change. It has often focused on making changes in schools, such as increasing student influence over curriculum or improving educational funding...
- Student rightsStudent rightsStudent rights are those rights which protect students, here meaning those persons attending schools, universities and other educational institutions...
- Opposition to the War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
- Protests against the War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
- Post–September 11 anti-war movement
External links
- Sissonville High School
- Proposed manifesto of Sierra's Anarchist Club
- Image of the Anarchist Club flyer
- Justice for Katie Sierra network site by Ernesto AguilarErnesto AguilarErnesto Aguilar founded the Anarchist People of Color email list and website in 2001, which led to the formation of the current Anarchist People of Color network.No longer an anarchist, Aguilar edits the website...
, hosted on Illegalvoices.org. Archived on April 17, 2003.
Katie Sierra interviews
- Sierra interview with Infoshop.orgInfoshop.org- History :Infoshop was founded in January 1995 as the Mid-Atlantic Infoshop by Chuck Munson. Having previously co-founded an online archive of anarchist texts, the Spunk Library, in 1992, Munson established Infoshop as a general resource on anarchism, moving to the domain name Infoshop.org in 1998...
, December 10, 2001 - Sierra interview with Democracy Now!Democracy Now!Democracy Now! and its staff have received several journalism awards, including the Gracie Award from American Women in Radio & Television; the George Polk Award for its 1998 radio documentary Drilling and Killing: Chevron and Nigeria's Oil Dictatorship, on the Chevron Corporation and the deaths of...
, December 11, 2001
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