Elementary student argues being required to remove ‘Come and Take It’ hat was 1st Amendment violation

By Kevin Koeninger | Courthouse News Service

Students do not abandon their First Amendment rights when they enter the classroom — and a hat depicting an assault rifle is not threatening or inappropriate, a Michigan father argued Thursday at the Sixth Circuit, seeking to overturn a lower court loss in the lawsuit he filed on behalf of his daughter.

Adam Stroub’s daughter C.S. was in third grade in February 2022 when her school had “hat day” and encouraged students to wear their favorite hats. She decided on a hat she had given to her father: a black baseball cap with a star above an assault rifle and the phrase “come and take it” in block letters.

Administrators at Kerr Elementary School in Durand, Michigan, forced her to take it off.

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