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After verbal and physical assaults by Sierra's fellow students, her mother withdrew her from the school and, with the help of the [[American Civil Liberties Union]], they initiated legal action against her headmaster and the school board. Initially unsuccessful and subject to various setbacks, these efforts eventually succeeded in overturning the school's decision not to allow the club, although the propriety of other actions by the school was upheld. Sierra briefly returned to Sissonville High in August 2002 before again withdrawing over peer harassment after less than a week. The actions and attitude of the school toward Sierra were sharply criticized in the media for what critics perceived as [[censorship]] and [[McCarthyism]], as a dark sign of post-[[September 11, 2001 attacks|September 11th]] American society and its conception of [[freedom of speech]]. Sierra later went on to study at [[Marshall University]] in [[West Virginia]].
After verbal and physical assaults by Sierra's fellow students, her mother withdrew her from the school and, with the help of the [[American Civil Liberties Union]], they initiated legal action against her headmaster and the school board. Initially unsuccessful and subject to various setbacks, these efforts eventually succeeded in overturning the school's decision not to allow the club, although the propriety of other actions by the school was upheld. Sierra briefly returned to Sissonville High in August 2002 before again withdrawing over peer harassment after less than a week. The actions and attitude of the school toward Sierra were sharply criticized in the media for what critics perceived as [[censorship]] and [[McCarthyism]], as a dark sign of post-[[September 11, 2001 attacks|September 11th]] American society and its conception of [[freedom of speech]]. Sierra later went on to study at [[Marshall University]] in [[West Virginia]].


==Biography==
===Background and suspension===
Sierra was born into a military family; her father fought in the [[Vietnam War]] and was later a civilian employee of the military, in which two of her brothers also served.<ref name=wvn>{{cite news |title=Student files lawsuit over anarchy club |url=http://wvanews.com/10-31/WVAnarchyLawsuitM0018.html |archivedate=2001-12-10 |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20011210112647/http://wvanews.com/10-31/WVAnarchyLawsuitM0018.html |work=West Virginia News/[[Associated Press]] |date=[[2001-10-31]] |accessdate=2008-03-22 }}</ref> As a child, the family moved around frequently; prior to attending [[Sissonville High School]] in [[Pocatalico, West Virginia]], a community near [[Charleston, West Virginia|Charleston]], Sierra had attended eleven schools and lived in [[Panama]], [[New Mexico]], [[Ohio]] and [[Kentucky]].<ref name=pretty>{{cite journal |last=Bissett |first=Jim |year= |month= |title=Democracy isn't always pretty |journal=[[The Dominion Post (Morgantown)|The Dominion Post]] |volume= |issue= |pages= |id= |url= |accessdate= 2008-03-22 |quote= }}</ref><ref name=teenarchist>{{cite news |title=Teen anarchist sues school principal |url=http://www.courttv.com/trials/taped/sierra/background_ctv.html |work=[[Court TV]] |publisher=Courtroom Television Network LLC. |date=[[2002-09-17]] |accessdate=2008-03-22 }}</ref> Although described as a "good student with no history of behavioral problems",<ref name=teenarchist/> she soon became embroiled in a controversy at the Charleston-area high school. On [[October 23]] [[2001]] Sierra asked the school's [[principal (school)|principal]], Forrest Mann, if she could start an [[anarchism|anarchist]] club at the school, after reading about the subject on [[Infoshop.org]].<ref name=infoshop/> Among the possible club activities she mentioned were [[reading group|reading]] and [[discussion group]]s and [[community service]], while flyers for the club also proposed starting a [[zine]] (called the ''Anny''<ref name=infoshop/>) and a chapter of [[Food Not Bombs]], a hunger charity. The club's [[manifesto]] declared "[t]his anarchist club will not tolerate hate or violence…It is our final goal to dispel myths about anarchism, especially the belief that anarchy is [[chaos]] and destruction."<ref name=teenarchist/> Without reading Sierra's literature, Mann refused to grant permission for such a club in the school, and had to ask Sierra several times to return to class when he would not explain his decision.
{{epigraph
| quote =To my students…the concept of [[anarchy]] is something that is evil and bad.
| cite =Headmaster Forrest Mann, quoted in ''[[The Guardian]]''<ref name=monbiot/>
}}
Sierra attended class wearing t-shirts with handwritten political slogans, a practice she claimed to have adopted long before the [[September 11, 2001 attacks]]: among the messages written on the t-shirts were "Against [[George W. Bush|Bush]], Against [[Osama Bin Laden|Bin Laden]]" and "When I saw the dead and dying Afghani children on TV, I felt a newly recovered sense of national security. God bless America."<ref name=monbiot>{{cite journal |last=Monbiot |first=George |authorlink=George Monbiot |date=[[2001-12-18]] |title=The Taliban of the west |journal=[[The Guardian]] |publisher=[[Guardian Media Group]] |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2001/dec/18/september11.uk |accessdate= 2008-03-22 }}</ref> Reading the back of Sierra's t-shirt, fellow student and aspirant [[United States Marine Corps|U.S. Marine]] Jacob Reed allegedly told her, "If you don't like this country, then fucking leave", and subsequently received [[School punishment#Detention|detention]].<ref name=teenarchist/> The day of the incident, Mann summoned Sierra to his office and told her she would no longer be allowed to wear the shirts, and claimed that Sierra had violated his prior orders by making flyers for the club available to other students. Mann suspended her for three days, on the charge of disrupting the education of her fellow students.<ref name=teenarchist/> Sierra then contacted the [[American Civil Liberties Union]], who agreed to take up her cause. After a meeting between Sierra, the ACLU, Sierra's mother and Mann, the issue was considered settled.<ref name=teenarchist/>


===Escalation===
On [[October 29]], the day of Sierra's return to school, a meeting of the school's [[board of education]] was held which discussed the events of the previous week. Although some board members were initially helpful, comments turned hostile towards the end of the meeting, with Sierra being told "[t]his isn't something funny or cute…[y]ou're talking about overthrowing the [[government]]", and having her actions characterized as "like you stood up and waved a Japanese flag on [[Attack on Pearl Harbor|Pearl Harbor day]]."<ref name=teenarchist/> In reference to Sierra, president of the board Bill Raglin asked "[w]hat the hell is wrong with a kid like that?" and board member John Luoni accused Sierra of committing [[treason]].<ref name=colby>{{cite journal |last=Colby |first=Michael |date=[[2001-11-07]] |month= |title=School Girl Gets the Boot for Anti-War Opinions |journal=[[CounterPunch]] |url=http://www.counterpunch.org/colby3.html |accessdate= 2008-03-22}}</ref> Sierra fled the meeting in tears. The following day, ''[[The Charleston Gazette]]'' published comments by Mann to the effect that the messages on Sierra's t-shirts included "I hope Afghanistan wins" and "America should burn."; Mann later claimed he had been misquoted, and that he had taken his information from Jacob Reed.<ref name=teenarchist/> Students spit on Sierra's mother's car at Sissonville High, and her friends' parents wouldn't give her rides home from school.<ref>{{cite news |title=West Virginia: Anarchist Teen Pulled From School |work=[[Associated Press]] |date=[[2001-11-27]] |accessdate=2008-03-22 }}</ref> Threats, taunting, jeering by her fellow students escalated into physical assaults, and Sierra's mother pulled her out of school;<ref name=wax>{{cite news |first=Emily |last=Wax |title=The Consequences of Objection |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A14157-2001Dec8?language=printer |work=[[The Washington Post]] |publisher=The Washington Post Company |date=[[2001-12-09]] |accessdate=2008-03-22 }}</ref><ref name=projo>{{cite news |first=David |last=Crumm |title=Author finds anger spreading across America |url=http://www.projo.com/religion/content/projo_20040904_rianger4.2a6ae6.html |work=[[The Providence Journal]] |publisher=[[Knight Ridder Newspapers]] |date=[[2004-09-04]] |accessdate=2008-03-22 }} </ref> the threats would ultimately cause Sierra to flee the town.<ref name=projo/>

===Legal action and runaway===
{{quote box
| quote=It's truly a shame we have to take money away from students who want to learn in order to defend these costly and time-consuming frivolous lawsuits…[w]e have a dress code. If you have a problem with that, you can go to a private school or to another county.
|source =School board member John Luoni<ref name=wvn/>
|width=24%
|align=right}}
The ACLU filed a suit on Sierra's behalf on [[December 9]] [[2001]] against the school district and Mann, but the suspension was immediately upheld in the [[Kanawha County, West Virginia|Kanawha County]] [[Circuit court#State courts|circuit court]].<ref name=wvn/><ref name=teenarchist/> Sierra's [[pro bono]] lawyers claimed that Mann was responsible for disruption, and that he could have taken the opportunity to teach his students about tolerance and constitutional rights instead of making misleading and incendiary comments in the media.<ref name=teenarchist/> The defence countered by saying constitutional rights did not apply equally to adults and students, with the latter not having the same latitude with regards to freedom of speech. Judge James Stucky rejected Sierra's request for a preliminary injunction on [[November 2]], citing her voluntary withdrawal from the county school system,<ref name=ap>{{cite news |title=Teenage anarchist to seek only $1 |work=[[Associated Press]] |publisher= |date=[[2002-06-22]] |accessdate=2008-03-22 }}</ref> but scheduled a jury trial for her lawsuit for [[June 24]]. Stucky ruled that that the disruption Sierra caused at school overrode her [[right to free speech]],<ref name=wax/> and told that he could not guarantee her safety at Sissonville High School.<ref>{{cite news |first=Eric |last=Eyre |title=‘You have some decisions to make,' judge tells Sierra |work=[[Charleston Gazette]] |publisher=Daily Gazette Company |date=[[2001-12-06]] |accessdate=2008-03-22 }} </ref> The [[West Virginia Supreme Court]] voted 3-2 on [[November 27]] against considering Sierra's petition to prevent the lower court from "continuing to deny her freedom of speech."<ref name=monbiot/>

Motivated by boredom and antipathy towards the "backward…narrow-minded…racist and sexist" residents of Charleston, Sierra ran away from home on [[April 8]] [[2002]].<ref name=runaway>{{cite news |first=Eric |last=Eyre |title=Teen back home after hitchhiking to South Carolina |work=[[Charleston Gazette]] |publisher=Daily Gazette Company |date=[[2002-04-18]] |accessdate=2008-03-22 }} </ref> Accompanied by a 24-year-old friend, Holly Elizabeth Taylor, she [[hitchhiking|hitched]] rides with [[trucker]]s to [[Raleigh, North Carolina]]. There, the self-proclaimed "road sisters" took in a concert by [[Tanya Donelly]], whose attempts to convince them to turn back were futile. Although Sierra successfully eluded the police, Taylor was discovered by Sierra's mother and a [[private detective]] she had hired, forcing Sierra to continue alone to [[South Carolina]] where she stayed with a friend. Her mother and the private detective tracked her down after tracing her phone calls to friends, and they returned to West Virginia. Commenting on the escapade, Sierra declared "You're never free. You're always trapped. This is a corrupt society. I'm paranoid to even use the phone anymore."<ref name=runaway/>

===Trial and return to Sissonville===
{{quote box
| quote=Katie went to school with an open mind hoping things would be different…I knew in the back of my mind that things would not be different because of the attitudes of the students and the faculty. I had my fingers crossed that it would be a better year.
|source =Mother Amy Sierra<ref name=hafen/>
|width=24%
|align=right}}
The ACLU lawyers decided to drop their suit on [[June 5]] that year after learning that Sierra had moved out of her mother's home and intended on traveling through [[Oregon]], and therefore would not be present at the trial date.<ref name=cdm>{{cite news |first=Chris |last=Stirewalt |title=Lawsuit Will Continue without Katie Sierra |work=[[Charleston Daily Mail]] |publisher= |date=[[2002-06-20]] |accessdate=2008-03-22 }}</ref> A day later, they reversed their decision after consulting with Sierra's mother, who had to file the suit on behalf of her daughter, who was a [[minor (law)|minor]] at the time.<ref name=cdm/> The subsequent trial lasted five days, attracting [[Court TV]], coverage in several [[Japan]]ese major newspapers and television shows,<ref>{{cite news |first=Greg |last=Stone |title=Anarchy story a hit in Japan |work=[[Charleston Gazette]] |publisher=Daily Gazette Company |date=[[2001-11-29]] |accessdate=2008-03-22 }}</ref> and a gallery packed with supporters of both sides.<ref name=trial>{{cite news |first=Laurence |last=Messina |title=Katie Sierra gets mixed verdict in suspension case |work=[[Charleston Gazette]] |publisher=Daily Gazette Company |date=[[2002-07-13]] |accessdate=2008-03-22 }}</ref> At the trial, Sierra's former English teacher Jean McCutcheon testified that Sierra's activities at Sissonville High had caused a "simmering feeling", and that she had counseled Sierra that it was a "terrible time in history" to start a club such as the one proposed.<ref name=cdm2>{{cite news |first=Chris |last=Stirewalt |title=Katie Sierra Focused on Rights |work=[[Charleston Daily Mail]] |publisher= |date=[[2002-07-11]] |accessdate=2008-03-22 }}</ref> Jacob Reed, the student who had been detained for his comments to Sierra, testified that the "only reason" for Sierra's actions was that she "wants attention", and queried as to why Sierra was opposed to what was "pretty much payback".<ref name=cdm2/> On [[July 12]], the court ruled that Sierra had been justly suspended and forbidden to wear the t-shirts, but had been improperly denied the right to start a club.<ref name=verdict>{{cite news |title=Teen anarchist sues school principal |url=http://www.courttv.com/trials/taped/sierra/verdict.html |work=[[Court TV]] |publisher=Courtroom Television Network LLC. |date=[[2002-08-27]] |accessdate=2008-03-22 }}</ref>

The ban on her right to return to the school having been lifted,<ref name=verdict/> Sierra returned to Sissonville High in August 2002.<ref name=hafen>{{cite news |first=Josh |last=Hafenbrack |coauthors=Smith, Carrie |title=Teen anarchist leaves Sissonville |work=[[Charleston Daily Mail]] |date=[[2002-09-13]] |accessdate=2008-03-22 }}</ref> In her first week back at the school, she was harassed, mocked and insulted by other students. Previous principal Forrest Mann having resigned from the school system following the controversy,<ref>{{cite news |first=Anna L. |last=Mallory |title=Ex-principal at Sissonville hired as adviser at Hoover. |work=[[Charleston Gazette]] |publisher=Daily Gazette Company |date=[[2006-03-23]] |accessdate=2008-03-22 |quote=Mann retired from the school system in 2002 after his decision to suspend then 15-year-old student Katie Sierra}}</ref> his successor Calvin McKinney identified Sierra's "questionable attire" – a t-shirt of [[punk rock|punk]] band [[Anti-Flag]] – as a possible trigger of her negative reception.<ref name=hafen/> Although she had secured a sponsor for the anarchist club, McKinney did not grant his approval, citing the need for a lengthy legal confirmation process. After attending Sissonville High for five days, Sierra dropped out of the school.<ref name=hafen/>


==Reaction to controversy==
==Reaction to controversy==

Revision as of 02:04, 10 April 2008

Katie Sierra in the Land of the Free by Carlos Latuff

Katie Sierra (born 1986) is an American anarchist and anti-war activist who was controversially suspended from high school in October 2001 for opposing the bombing of Afghanistan.[1] At the age of 15, she was engaged in anti-war activism at her school, Sissonville High School near Charleston, West Virginia, wearing clothes with handwritten messages objecting to perceived U.S. militarism, racism, sexism and homophobia. When she applied for permission to start an anarchist club at the school, she was denied by the school's principal, and attempts at publicizing the club led to her being suspended from school for three days. Incendiary comments by the principal and the members of the school's board of education were reported in the press and provoked a controversy that garnered national and international media attention.

After verbal and physical assaults by Sierra's fellow students, her mother withdrew her from the school and, with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union, they initiated legal action against her headmaster and the school board. Initially unsuccessful and subject to various setbacks, these efforts eventually succeeded in overturning the school's decision not to allow the club, although the propriety of other actions by the school was upheld. Sierra briefly returned to Sissonville High in August 2002 before again withdrawing over peer harassment after less than a week. The actions and attitude of the school toward Sierra were sharply criticized in the media for what critics perceived as censorship and McCarthyism, as a dark sign of post-September 11th American society and its conception of freedom of speech. Sierra later went on to study at Marshall University in West Virginia.


Reaction to controversy

The controversy over Sierra's suspension and the subsequent trial drew local, national and international media attention. Initial reaction to Sierra's actions from the local media was scathing. This was later attributed by Sierra's lawyers and Dan Radmacher – editor of the Charleston Gazette – to Principal Mann's repetition in his comments to the Gazette of Jacob Reed's statements concerning Sierra's message.[2][3] The Charleston Daily Mail called Sierra's "thoroughly egocentric exercise" of her constitutional rights "tiresome."[4] Sierra claims that callers to local radio stations "wanted to shoot me in the head. They wanted to send me to another country."[5] Conversely, national and international observers were supportive of Sierra and sharply critical of the actions of the state. John Tinker, of Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, pledged his support for Katie, personally emailing Sierra to encourage her and offered to attend further court proceedings. Sierra reported, "he said he'd be in the front row of the courtroom..."[6] British political writer George Monbiot descried Sierra's treatment, citing it as an example of state persecution and the erosion of civil liberties in the United States,[7] while progressive journalist Amy Goodman characterized it as evidence of "a new McCarthyism."[8] A New York University drama project investigating post-9/11 America composed a theater piece, United We Stand, inspired by Sierra's actions.[9] Sierra was one of the "heroes" of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Dale Maharidge's Homeland, an examination of the mind-set behind the United States' post-9/11 jingoism and suppression of dissent.[10] Portraying her as an unconventional and "good-hearted kid," Maharidge reported that Sierra took a telemarketing job following the cessation of the controversy: "She was supposed to make two sales a day. The first day, she made five sales, and continued at that rate. When I again talked with her in the winter, she was living in a dorm and attending Marshall University in West Virginia. She was happy and her only complaint was that the classes were too easy."[10]

Beliefs

Sierra is an anarchist-pacifist who is opposed to all violence and advocates "a peaceful revolution."[2] In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks, she was taken aback by the wave of "flag-waving", increasing patriotism and "blind, unthinking"[11] advocacy of war on the part of her fellow students, who she believed ignored existing problems such as racism and homophobia. At the time of the controversy, she voiced her belief that people in Sissonville High were permitted to talk about how they felt about certain things, so long as there were others who agreed with them.[11] She denies being anti-American,[2] and that anarchism implies support for terrorism (propaganda of the deed),[5] countering that it is an anti-authoritarian and non-violent philosophy.

As like any war I think it's wrong. I don't believe in fighting and last time I checked war is included. I don't know or have an answer for the war, but I do know that killing people is not right. I think our country is just too lazy to think of another solution.

— Sierra in interview with Infoshop.org, December 10, 2001[11]

Further reading

  • Maharidge, Dale (2004). Homeland. New York: Seven Stories Press. ISBN 1583226273.

References

  1. ^ Fuentes, Annette (2004-06-30). "Whose Homeland Is It?". In These Times. Institute For Public Affairs. Retrieved 2008-03-22. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference teenarchist was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Radmacher, Dan (2002-06-12). "Who were the real sophomores in the Katie Sierra case?". Charleston Gazette. Daily Gazette Company. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ Walker, Jesse (2002). "Club Anarchy: Why high school sucks". Reason. Reason Foundation. The local Charleston Daily Mail praised the decision, arguing that "Americans cherish the freedoms guaranteed them under the Constitution, but the thoroughly egocentric exercise of those rights becomes tiresome." {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  5. ^ a b Saxton, Michelle (2001-11-01). "Student loses bid to form high school anarchy club". Associated Press/South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Tribune Company. Archived from the original on 2006-12-06. Retrieved 2008-03-22. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ "John Tinker pledges support for pro-anarchy teen". First Amendment Center/Associated Press. 2001-12-01. Retrieved 2008-03-22. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference monbiot was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Sierra, Katie (2001-12-11). ""When I Saw the Dead and Dying Afghani Children On TV, I Felt a Newly Recovered Sense Of National Security. God Bless America" &shy High School Suspends a 15-Year-Old Student for Anti-War T-Shirt"" (Interview). Interviewed by Amy Goodman. Retrieved 2008-03-22. {{cite interview}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |callsign= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |program= ignored (help)
  9. ^ Graeber, Laurel (2002-07-12). "Family Fare". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 2008-03-22. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ a b Canfield, Kevin (2004-08-08). "Emblems of a nation of discontent and dissent". San Francisco Chronicle. Hearst Communications Inc. Retrieved 2008-03-22. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ a b c "Infoshop Interviews - Katie Sierra". Infoshop.org. Archived from the original on 2007-04-19. Retrieved 2008-03-22.
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