A Virginia school board violated the First Amendment when it renamed a high school after confederate general Stonewall Jackson, a federal court said.
The plaintiffs, including the Virginia State Conference NAACP and parents, whose students attend Stonewall Jackson High School in Shenandoah County, Va., showed that the school board’s decision amounted to unconstitutional compelled speech, Judge Michael F. Urbanski said Tuesday for the US District Court for the Western District of Virginia.
The plaintiffs alleged the school’s sports teams are known as the Stonewall Jackson Generals, and having “Generals” emblazoned on sports uniforms, requires student athletes to promote the board’s ...