Boroff v. Van Wert: Sixth Circuit Ruling on Offensive Shirts

In Boroff v. Van Wert City Board of Education, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on July 26, 2000 that a public high school did not violate a student’s First Amendment rights when it banned him from wearing Marilyn Manson t-shirts under its dress code. The decision confirmed that public schools have substantial authority to prohibit clothing whose message administrators find offensive or contrary to the school’s educational mission.¹

The T-Shirt That Started the Case

On August 29, 1997, Nicholas Boroff wore a Marilyn Manson t-shirt to Van Wert High School in Ohio. The front showed a three-faced image of Jesus with a phrase about seeing, hearing, and speaking no truth. The back read “believe,” with the letters “lie” highlighted inside the word.¹

The principal told Boroff the shirt violated the dress code and gave him three options: turn it inside out, change into a different shirt, or leave campus and be marked truant. Boroff left. Over the next three school days he returned in other Marilyn Manson shirts and was sent home each time.¹

The Dress Code the School Applied

Van Wert High School’s written dress code prohibited clothing with offensive illustrations. Administrators were responsible for deciding what met that description. The principal concluded that the band imagery on Boroff’s shirts fell within the ban, and school officials took the position that the themes associated with Marilyn Manson conflicted with the values the school was trying to promote.¹

The Constitutional Claims

In September 1997, Boroff’s mother sued the school board on his behalf. The lawsuit argued that the school had violated her son’s First Amendment right to free expression by punishing him for the message on his clothing. It also raised a Fourteenth Amendment due process claim. The core legal question was whether a public school could restrict a student’s expressive attire without showing that the clothing caused a substantial disruption.¹

What the Sixth Circuit Decided

The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled in favor of the school board on July 26, 2000, affirming the lower court. The judges held that administrators had acted within their authority in enforcing the dress code against Boroff’s shirts and that the school had not violated his constitutional rights.¹

The court’s reasoning turned on the clash between the clothing’s message and the school’s educational mission. Because administrators concluded that the band’s imagery promoted values at odds with the environment the school was trying to maintain, the court found they could legally restrict the shirts. The First Amendment, the court said, does not give students an unrestricted right to wear any attire they choose on school grounds.¹

Why the Case Still Matters

Boroff gave public schools notable room to define what counts as offensive or inappropriate for their students. Administrators do not have to wait for a disruption before acting on clothing whose message they judge to conflict with the school’s educational goals. For students and parents, the practical takeaway is that a dress code barring “offensive” imagery can reach shirts whose message is unpopular with the administration, and courts in the Sixth Circuit have been willing to back that judgment.¹

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Court News Ohio. School’s Right To Prohibit Offensive Clothing Upheld