From Senior Judge Christopher Boyko's decision Monday in Conrad v. Madison Local School Dist. Bd. of Ed.:
According to his Verified Complaint, C.C. wore the shirt on November 25, 2024, underneath a flannel shirt. Plaintiff alleges:
The phrase "Let's Go Brandon" communicates criticism of certain media outlets for a well-documented pattern of misreporting facts in a politically biased fashion. In this particular incident, a large crowd at a NASCAR race was heard shouting a profane disdain for then-President Joseph R. Biden, chanting "F*** Joe Biden." The reporter on the scene reported the chant as "Let's go Brandon," as if the chant was actually praise for the winner of the race, whose first name was Brandon. From that point forward, that moment was perceived as a microcosm of a larger problem, and "Lets Go Brandon" became a popular expression of certain people's opinion toward the media and American politics.
Plaintiff alleges C.C. wore the shirt the previous school year without complaint. However, on this particular day, Defendant Krista Ferini, a teacher and registered democrat, told C.C. to "button that up. I know what that means." C.C. complied and buttoned up his flannel shirt. Later that day, while in a classroom that lacked air conditioning, C.C. took off his flannel shirt. When Ferini saw C.C. without the flannel covering up his Let's Go Brandon t-shirt she wrote him up. Due to the write-up C.C. reported to Defendant Andrew Keeple, Principal of C.C.'s school. Keeple instructed C.C. to wear the flannel the rest of the day and to never wear the shirt to school again.
