The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a Michigan mother's challenge to a middle school's ban on “Let's Go Brandon” sweatshirts. The decision leaves in place a lower court ruling that upheld the school's response to the phrase. The dispute began at Tri County Middle School in Howard City, where staff repeatedly told an eighth-grader and his sixth-grade brother to remove the sweatshirts, Christmas gifts they received in December 2021.
The phrase “Let's Go Brandon” is a coded reference to profanity.
The family's attorneys argued that the Sixth Circuit's decision gives school officials broad discretion to restrict political expression they consider vulgar. The appellate court affirmed summary judgment for Tri County Area Schools on October 14, 2025. The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan had granted summary judgment to the district in August 2024. The appellate opinion describes the dispute and the courts' rulings.
A Divided Appeals Court
The majority concluded that the slogan's political meaning did not prevent school officials from restricting it as vulgar in the school setting.
Judge John Bush dissented.
The dispute raises how Supreme Court rulings on student speech apply to coded political slogans on clothing.
An Earlier Student-Speech Case
The Supreme Court's 1986 decision in Bethel School District No. 403 involved a high school student disciplined for a speech using an extended, nonexplicit sexual metaphor, according to The New York Times. That case concerned a speech, not political wording on clothing, so it is a point of comparison rather than evidence by itself of a circuit split over coded slogans on student apparel. The information here does not establish whether such a split exists.
The Supreme Court Petition
In their March 2026 petition to the Supreme Court, the family's attorneys asked the justices to review the Sixth Circuit's ruling.
Students also wore other politically charged apparel, including clothing supporting Donald Trump and reading “Make America Great Again,” without facing discipline.
What the Rejection Means Going Forward
The formal case, D.A. v. Tri County Area Schools, was filed under Supreme Court Docket No. 25-1143 by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression on behalf of the two students and their mother, against the school district, Assistant Principal Andrew Buikema, and teacher Wendy Bradford, according to Supreme Court filings. By declining to grant certiorari, the justices leave the Sixth Circuit's ruling in place in this case.
Images from Washington on October 1 showed the Supreme Court building as the new term approached, even as this particular dispute closed without a hearing.
