Federal Judge Says Restoring Stonewall Jackson Name at Shenandoah School Violates Students’ Rights

A federal judge in the U.S. Western District Court opined on Tuesday that Shenandoah County School Board’s decision to restore the moniker of Stonewall Jackson High School violated a group of students’ First Amendment rights, since it compelled them to promote a positive image of the Confederate general.

In siding with the students, U.S. Court Judge Michael F. Urbanski wrote that Jackson’s name “is expressive as a symbol of racial exclusion in public schools.”

In June 2024, the NAACP Virginia State Conference and five students enrolled in the school division filed a lawsuit alleging that the board’s decision to rename the school after the controversial Civil War era figure violated the U.S. Constitution, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Equal Educational Opportunity Act. The plaintiffs want Confederate names, mascots, and vestiges removed from the school, and to prevent any future school naming involving Confederate leaders or references to the Confederacy.

A crowd gathers in front of the Shenandoah County Circuit Court on June 11, 2024 after the Virginia NAACP announced it has filed a lawsuit against the Shenandoah County School Board for allegedly “reaffirming discrimination” when it voted to return the original Confederate school names on May 10. (Photo by Nathaniel Cline/Virginia Mercury)

Urbanski said that the board cannot force anyone to express a message, and that the students were being forced to convey a message endorsing Jackson by their school being renamed after him, and by wearing their school’s “Generals” apparel and being identified as “Stonewall Jackson Generals” during extracurricular activities.

“By reinstating the name ‘Stonewall Jackson High School’ and thereby compelling students to advance the School Board’s chosen message favoring ‘Stonewall Jackson’ through the conduct of extracurricular activities rendered expressive by that name, the School Board has violated plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights, as incorporated by the Fourteenth Amendment, against compelled speech,” Urbanski wrote.

Urbanski granted the students’ summary judgment, denied the school board’s counter motion, and deferred a final judgment on the matter. A trial has been set for Dec. 8, 2025.

“The federal district court judge delivered a powerful victory for students, affirming that they cannot be obligated to promote the legacy of Stonewall Jackson—a symbol deeply associated with the Confederacy,” Marja Plater, senior counsel at one of the law firms representing the civil rights group and students, said in a statement Wednesday. “The court’s opinion makes it unmistakably clear: students deserve the freedom to define themselves unencumbered by symbols they do not choose.”

Li Reed, an attorney with Covington & Burling, which is also representing the plaintiffs, added that the decision is a “key vindication” of what their clients have argued since the reinstatement of the Confederate name was proposed by the school board, which students said amounted to “forcing them to constantly espouse pro-slavery, anti-Black messages is a violation of their First Amendment constitutional rights.”

Rev. Cozy Bailey, president of the NAACP Virginia State Conference, said the judge’s ruling “reinforces what we know to be true; those who led the Confederacy should not be honored.”

Virginia school board restores Confederate names

On May 10, 2024, the Shenandoah County School Board reversed a 2020 decision by a previous board to rename two schools bearing the names of Confederate Generals Turner Ashby, Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson in alignment with a nationwide effort to make schools more inclusive and equitable.

Some people, including a group of Shenandoah residents who support the school names’ reversal, believe the Confederacy represents a heritage of Southerners’ courage against the federal Union and their fight for states’ rights. Others, including civil rights groups and Shenandoah students and families who oppose the schools’ renaming, view the Confederacy as defenders of slavery and a foundational part of America’s history of racism, and say modern use of Confederate symbols contributes to racial tensions.

Between the 1950s and 1960s, Shenandoah County officials named public schools after Confederate leaders.

The Mercury contacted the school board for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.

by Nathaniel Cline, Virginia Mercury

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