An Ohio 8th-grader’s father has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against his son’s teacher, principal, and school district after the boy was asked to stop wearing a “Let’s Go Brandon” T-shirt to class — then got detention for ignoring the request, dismissing concerns as “not my problem.”
The suit was filed March 26 in Cleveland federal court by Richard Conrad on behalf of his son, who is identified in legal filings by his full name and as “C.C.” It acknowledges that the teacher’s and principal’s actions were “consistent with” the local school district’s Student Code of Conduct. However, it also argues the code “provides no clarity” regarding a pupil’s freedom of speech, and grants “broad discretion” on the issue to faculty members “without recourse or accountability.” (The Independent is withholding C.C.’s full name because he is a minor.)
The slogan, “Let’s Go Brandon,” is a thinly coded message used by conservative Republicans and the broader MAGA movement to mean, “F**k Joe Biden.” It became an accidental meme of sorts in 2021, following NASCAR driver Brandon Brown’s surprise win at the Talladega Motor Speedway in Alabama that October.
As Brown sat for a post-race interview by NBC Sports reporter Kelli Stavast, the hometown crowd began to chant, “F**k Joe Biden,” a mocking phrase that had become popular at college football games throughout the southern United States. When Stavast remarked to Brown that it sounded like the spectators were saying, “Let’s Go Brandon,” a new right-wing insult was born.
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Although Biden is no longer in office, C.C., who is more than a half-decade shy of voting age, would “like to express his personal opinions, including wearing T-shirts with the content of the T-shirt he was punished for wearing,” according to the lawsuit. “However, C.C.’s free speech is punished and chilled by the District’s punishment.”
The Supreme Court ruled in 1969 that students do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.” However, these rights are not absolute in the context of a school setting, and administrators are permitted to restrict speech they see as disruptive, lewd, or obscene.
Attorney Josh Brown, who is representing C.C. in the case, told The Independent that C.C. once again wore the “Let’s Go Brandon” shirt the day the lawsuit was filed, and that he may be prohibited from joining his classmates to a local amusement park as a result. Brown said C.C. was given an in-school suspension and that he “has been restricted to the office since then.”
The Madison Local Schools Board of Education, five board members, the principal of C.C.’s school, and one of his teachers, who are all named as defendants, did not respond to requests for comment.
The dispute dates back to November 25, 2024, when C.C. first wore his “Let’s Go Brandon” T-shirt to school, beneath an unbuttoned flannel top, according to his complaint. While milling around in the hallway before classes started for the day, one of C.C.’s teachers, Krista Ferini, saw his T-shirt and said, “Button that up, I know what that means,” the complaint states, adding that C.C. did as he was told.
A couple of periods later, C.C. had band practice and removed his flannel shirt when the room became uncomfortably hot, the complaint goes on. During lunch, the complaint says Ferini spotted C.C. in the “Let’s Go Brandon” tee she had earlier asked him to cover up, and sent him to the principal’s office. There, the principal, Andrew Kepple, instructed C.C. to wear his flannel for the rest of the day, and told him not to wear the “Let’s Go Brandon” shirt to school again, the complaint continues.
But, in late January 2025, C.C. wore the T-shirt again. During the break between fifth and sixth period, the complaint says Ferini waved C.C. over as he was headed to math class, according to the complaint.
“Do you like offending people?” she asked, according to the complaint.
“That’s not my problem, nobody has to read my shirt,” C.C. replied, it says.
Later that day, Kepple called C.C.’s father and told him his son had once again violated the school’s dress code. If he continued to do so, C.C. would face further disciplinary action, according to the complaint. In response, Richard Conrad asked to meet with Kepple in-person, and showed up at the school with his own father, C.C.’s grandfather, to talk.
“Keeple [sic] said that ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ is ‘code’ for a vulgar expression,” the complaint states.
“Conrad told Keeple [sic] that Conrad did not interpret it that way,” it says. “Conrad ultimately told Keeple [sic] that he would not instruct C.C. to refrain from wearing clothing communicating this content.”
On March 24, C.C. once again wore the “Let’s Go Brandon” T-shirt to school, contrary to Kepple’s warning, according to the complaint. When Ferini spotted it, she contacted Kepple, who summoned C.C. to his office, the complaint states. Kepple told C.C. that he would be sent to after-school detention for violating the rules, it says. C.C. was “punished” twice more during March “for the content of his ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ T-shirt,” according to the complaint, which alleges, without providing specific examples, that the district “allow[s] many other different expressions and speech on student’s clothing, at school, including political speech.” (A detention slip filed in court as an exhibit displays a February 2025 date; no explanation is given for the discrepancy.)
“C.C.’s expression did not and does not materially and substantially interfere with the orderly conduct of educational activity,” the complaint concludes. “Defendants’ policy and practice give unbridled discretion to school officials by permitting them to forbid messages that they personally deem to be offensive and allow messages they personally do not deem offensive.”
C.C. is now asking the court to issue an injunction prohibiting the school from enforcing its dress code, to allow him to wear his anti-Biden T-shirt, and to award him monetary damages in an amount to be determined by a jury, plus attorneys’ fees.
