A Latina who's not allowed to wear Mexican American sash at high school graduation takes legal action

A Colorado high school senior is taking legal action against her school district after officials denied her request to wear a sash with an image of the U.S. and Mexican flags during her upcoming graduation.

The district’s decision is a violation of Naomi Villasano’s constitutionally protected right to free speech, according to a lawsuit filed by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), a Latino legal civil rights organization, and the Greenberg Traurig, LLP, law firm.

According to the lawsuit involving Garfield County School District 16, Grand Valley High School Principal Kelly McCormick told Villasano, who's 18, that she couldn't wear the sash despite acknowledging that the school, located in the town of Parachute, didn't have a specific written policy about regalia worn on or over the graduation gown.