School’s Curriculum Discards Patriotism

This is the kind of case that civil rights lawyers dream about—the type of case when your client has done nothing wrong and was still punished. It also doesn’t hurt that the defendant in this case is an obnoxious school board that not only blatantly broke every rule but thumbed its nose at patriotism and, by doing so, damaged the morale of a young man planning on becoming a U.S. Marine.

WBFF-TV reported that Parker Jensen, a high school senior at Towson High School in Baltimore and an aspiring U.S. Marine, was suspended for questioning why there were no American flags in the classrooms.

It’s been a while since I was in High School, but I can confidently state that no one was ever suspended for asking why there were no American flags in the classrooms. The reasons for that are twofold. First, There WERE American flags in the classrooms, and second, the faculty had more common sense than to even think about disciplining someone for something so trivial as asking a legitimate question.

Apparently, things are handled differently at Towson High School in Baltimore. When Jensen went to the Board of Education to ask about the lack of flags at school, he did not get answers. Instead, school district officials called the police, and five police cars responded.

This started in February, Jensen tells Project Baltimore, when he went to Towson High School’s vice principal about the lack of flags, who said he would look into the issue. In March, Jensen says he returned to his vice principal because his classrooms still did not have a flag. A few weeks later, with still nothing being done, Jensen took his concerns to his principal’s bosses.

On March 28, Jensen withdrew from his class and went to the Baltimore County Board of Education building to speak with someone about the missing flags. He recorded his attempt.

“What did you think was going to happen?” Project Baltimore’s Chris Papst asked Jensen.

“I thought that someone would just come out, speak with me for five minutes, and then I’d be on my way.”

But that isn’t what happened. After waiting for an hour to speak to someone, the police showed up.

However, as if that wasn’t enough humiliation, School Safety Emergency Manager Richard Muth informed Jensen that, effective immediately, he was being suspended for seven days, the news outlet reported.

Suspended for “Disruptive behavior”, “Refusing to cooperate with school rules,” and “Failure to follow a direction.”

“I was very frustrated,” explained Jensen. “I feel like what they did was unlawful. You know, we have the right to record government employees in the course of their duties. It just shines a bad light. I believe what I was doing was lawful, and I had a reason to be there. And the only reason they would suspend me is because they know they’re on the wrong end of that.”

Jensen doesn’t believe the incident will impact his joining the U.S. Marines, but he is rightfully taking legal action. He has hired an attorney to challenge his suspension and trespassing charge, claiming that what happened is unconstitutional.

Jensen’s lawyer, Sarah Spitalnick, stated that her client’s constitutional rights were clearly violated. Jensen expressed his motivation for wanting the flag in the classroom, saying, “Patriotism has always been very important to me.”

“He was summarily suspended without any due process whatsoever,” Spitalnick said.

For his part, Jensen is asking for the suspension to be vacated and monetary damages to be awarded.

Baltimore County School Board Policy 6307 and Maryland Education Code 7-105 require the American flag to be displayed in each classroom. If Towson High School has classrooms without a flag, that violates state law and board policy.

This school board tried to bully a future Marine, knowing full well that they were violating board policy and breaking state law. This type of harassment will continue until examples are made of those who are involved. In this case, I hope the monetary award exceeds Jensen’s wildest dreams and the guilty school officials are fired.

“Semper Fi” Parker, “Oorah!”