The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday, Oct. 5, 2026, declined to hear an appeal from a Michigan woman who challenged a school district's ban on clothing featuring the phrase "Let's Go Brandon." The decision leaves in place a lower court ruling that allowed the school to prohibit the apparel.
The legal dispute began after the woman's two sons were told to remove sweatshirts featuring the phrase, which she had purchased for them for Christmas in 2022. The school district argued the phrase contains lewd implications that are inappropriate for a school setting. A lower court previously ruled in favor of the district, concluding the phrase serves as a stand-in for an obscenity directed at then-President Joe Biden.
Attorneys representing the mother argued that the ban violated the students' First Amendment rights to free political speech. They contended the phrase does not contain swear words or sexual references and argued the ban granted school officials too much authority to suppress speech based on personal definitions of vulgarity. The school district countered that messages with lewd implications have no place in school. The district noted that students had been permitted to wear other political attire, such as "Make America Great Again" clothing or items supporting Donald Trump.
The phrase originated in 2021 during a NASCAR race when a TV reporter suggested a crowd chanting an obscenity at Biden was actually chanting "Let's Go Brandon" for driver Brandon Brown. The Supreme Court's refusal to hear the case leaves the lower court's finding on "veiled vulgarity" in place for this district. With the Supreme Court's rejection of the appeal, the legal challenge has reached its conclusion.