DISCLAIMER: Any unofficial case summaries below are prepared by the clerk's office
as a courtesy to the reader. They are not part of the opinion of the court.
073437P.pdf 09/02/2008 Chris Lowry v. Watson Chapel School District
U.S. Court of Appeals Case No: 07-3437
and No: 08-1139
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas - Pine Bluff
[PUBLISHED] [Smith, Author, with Gruender, Circuit Judge, and
Rosenbaum, District Judge]
Civil case - Civil Rights. Applying Tinker, the district court did not
err in finding that defendant School District violated plaintiffs' First
Amendment rights when it disciplined them for wearing black arm bands
to protest the school's dress code; district court did not err in holding
that nominal damages must be awarded when the jury finds a violation of
plaintiffs' constitutional rights, and it did not abuse its discretion in
amending the judgment to reflect a nominal damage award as a matter of
law; district court did not err in permanently enjoining defendants from
disciplining any student who wears a band substantially like the ones
plaintiffs wore around their wrists; award of attorneys' fees affirmed.