March 30, 2010

       Let's hear a round of applause (if it's only me is it one hand clapping?) for federal judge Glen Davidson, a former Tupelo, Mississippi, prosecutor named to the bench by Ronald Reagan.      Why?  It starts with Constance McMillen, a self-identified lesbian since eighth grade and now a senior at Itawamba Agricultural High School.  She wanted to take her girlfriend to the prom.  The school said no, she could attend alone or with a male date but not as part of a same-sex couple.  Could she wear a tuxedo?  No, again.      The American Civil Liberties Union, bless its litigious heart, wrote a letter protesting these rulings and the school--isn't there some way we can make everyone unhappy--canceled the prom.  The ACLU then sued on McMillen's behalf.      Enter Judge Davidson who ruled, the New York Times reports, that the First Amendment's right of self-expression ("Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of speech or of the press....") is denied when a student is barred from attending the prom with a same-sex date.  He also ruled that McMillen's right to communicate a message was infringed when the school said she couldn't wear a tux.      The judge did not order the school to restage the prom because McMillen's family is planning to hold one of their own which their daughter, dressed as she pleases, will obviously attend.      Still, it's a fine story with a fine moral.  The school behaved shabbily and the good guys (well, girls) won.
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