On March 14, 2025, Muirlands Middle School in La Jolla, California, settled a lawsuit with a student who was suspended for allegedly wearing blackface at a high school football game. U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen Crawford decided that a settlement was in the anonymous student’s best interest. In exchange for expunging the boy’s record, the suit was dropped.
A separate judge previously dismissed the case on First Amendment grounds. U.S. District Judge Linda Lopez said that the student had not proven that wearing black face paint was constitutionally protected speech. The boy was suspended after he and his friends wore black face paint under their eyes, which athletes use to reduce glare.
The judge issued a statement explaining her decision to force a settlement. Judge Crawford said, “Plaintiff previously sought, and failed to obtain, an injunction from the court. Thus, it appears plaintiff is (at least partly) getting through settlement what he could not obtain through litigation, which strikes the court as distinctly in plaintiff’s best interest.”
Lopez added additional context in her October 1, 2024 decision. She said, “Internet searches reveal that there are photographs of fans wearing black paint on their faces in various designs during other LJHS football games, but nothing as pronounced as the black paint on plaintiff’s face during the game in question. Regardless of just how common certain colors and designs of face paint are for fans to wear during LJHS football games, the focus remains on plaintiff’s conduct during this particular game and how that audience would have understood it.”
Social media users reacted to the news by offering their support to the boy. One tweet said, “A California middle school has been forced to settle a lawsuit with an 8th-grade student after he was punished over false allegations that he was wearing “blackface” during a football game. J.A. Ameduri was suspended by the school after he was accused of wearing “blackface” to a football game in October 2023.”
One user cited other examples to prove the suspension was ridiculous. He said, “John Randle was famous for doing this very thing in the NFL. Andy Farkas was too. My god people, pull your heads out and let a kid live with self respect and pride for his ideals! Heck for that matter, currently Jalen Hurts @JalenHurts does this too! Oh my goodness! I respect his pride for the game as well as honoring players in an innocent fashion”
One woman reacted, “Wow!! My son plays baseball and all the boys do this for their tournaments. This is crazy!” Another account said, “Ong this is absolutely RIDICULOUS!!! Our football and baseball wear this at games !!!!! Wow” One user chimed in, “Hopefully, it was enough that the kid doesn’t have to work for the rest of his life.”
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Another noticed how this type of manufactured scandal is endemic in the education system. They said, “Just more proof that ALL SCHOOLS in the US are controlled by leftist morons. We need to get every school & every school board, replace them all with Conservative Christians & keep the degeneracy & leftism out of all places of learning. Pre-K through college.”
Watch Fox News Channel’s report on why the boy was suspended back when that happneed here:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video