Rhode Island Senior Can Wear Chain Mail and Wield Sword in Yearbook Photo, School Gracelessly Concedes

I blogged this ridiculous case of pointless school administration tyranny a while back. Senior Patrick Agin, a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, wants to publish a photo in the school yearbook of himself wearing chain mail (which his uncle makes) with a broadsword slung over his shoulder.

In any case, thanks to the ACLU and a Rhode Island Board of Education ruling that the principal's decision to ban the photo was "arbitrary and capricious," Agin will get his wish. The school will pay $2000 in legal costs.

However, instead of admitting that the school administrators were wrong, the Providence Journal reports:

Sylvia Wedge, chairwoman of the Portsmouth School Committee, confirmed yesterday that Agin's portrait will run in the yearbook, The Legend, but she said an effort will be made to ensure similar photos aren't allowed in the future.

Public schools once again teach a valuable lesson to future generations about how no amount of power is too petty to abuse.