An article from the symposium issue of the West Virginia Law Review on “The Religion Clauses in the 21st Century.” The symposium was convened by the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy and the West Virginia University College of Law on October April 12 and 13, 2007.

Kristi L. Bowman, Assistant Professor, Michigan State University College of Law, wrote on “Public School Students’ Religious Speech and Viewpoint Discrimination.” As part of the series of papers from the symposium panel “The Religion Clauses in Institutional Contexts,” “Bowman’s paper explores the parameters of the protection the Free Speech Clause provides for student religious expression. Focusing on some recent cases involving student T-shirts with provocative religious messages, she asks whether school suppression of those messages under the standards adopted in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District would constitute unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination. Through a careful reading of all the Court’s student speech precedents including its recent decision in Morse v. Frederick, Bowman suggests that the law of student speech may allow schools to discriminate against religious viewpoints that prove especially disruptive or that unduly interfere with the rights of others.” - From Introduction by William P. Marshall, Vivian E. Hamilton and John E. Taylor.