The Mendocino High School girls basketball team missed their first game of the tournament on Monday after organizers disinvited them. Organizers later reversed their decision to ban the shirts.
A basketball tournament at Fort Bragg High School in California on Monday allowed spectators and players to wear "I Can't Breathe" shirts after initially banning them.
Players were initially only allowed to wear the shirts during warm-ups, the Fort Bragg Advocate-News reported.
"The district may revisit this issue if there is a bona fide disruption, linked to the activities mentioned above," a statement from Patrick C. Wilson, Senior Associate General Counsel for School and College Legal Services of California, said.
The statement did not specify why tournament organizers had a change of heart. It came, however, after a letter by the ACLU said the students' actions were protected by the First Amendment, the California Constitution and the California Education Code.
The girls basketball team from Mendocino High was originally disinvited from the tournament hosted by Fort Bragg High School after their players wore the shirts featuring the last words of Eric Garner earlier this month.
Most of the Mendocino boys basketball team had agreed to leave their shirts home. Too many girls refused to budge, however, and their their team was not allowed to take to the court Monday.
Their first game in the bracket-style tournament was scheduled for noon, and organizers did not reverse their decision on the shirts until later in the day.
from BuzzFeed - USNews http://www.buzzfeed.com/davidmack/california-basketball-tournament-lifts-ban-of-i-cant-breathe?utm_term=4ldqpia
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