Mira Loma Student Loses Court Bid

A Riverside County judge Wednesday refused to issue a temporary restraining order against the Jurupa Unified School District, which had prevented a student from holding a rally at school protesting illegal immigration and from wearing a T-shirt denouncing undocumented residents.

Superior Court Judge Thomas Cahraman said there was not enough time to study the case before the end of school next week.

“I am not belittling the arguments being made, I’m very interested in them, but I don’t know how I can analyze this by June 21,” he said.

Jurupa Valley High School senior Joshua Denhalter, 18, sued the district for $25,000 because it refused to let him wear his shirt or hold a demonstration on the campus in Mira Loma. In March, he was suspended for three days after passing out fliers at school for an off-campus protest he organized.

Denhalter said he was silenced while students supporting illegal immigrants were allowed to rally at school. The district said it held an open forum where all views were welcome.

Last month, Denhalter went to school wearing a shirt with a picture of Uncle Sam and the words “Illegal Aliens We Don’t Want You!” on it. He was told to turn it inside out and not wear it again because it might offend some students.

He had hoped to force the school to let him hold a protest and wear his shirt on campus before classes ended.

Attorney Timothy Liebaert, representing Denhalter in court Wednesday, said the ruling would not affect the rest of the lawsuit, which accuses the school district of violating Denhalter’s 1st Amendment right to free speech. “The case is going forward,” Liebaert said.