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Free speech case puts first graders' rights in spotlight

The free speech rights of first graders are at the center of an ongoing legal fight in California.

In aMarch 10 opinion, a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals threw out a lower court's previous ruling in favor of a school district accused of violating a student's First Amendment rights by punishing her for a Black Lives Matter drawing. The decision sends the case back down to the district court for further legal proceedings.

The student at Viejo Elementary School in Mission Viejo, California, identified only as B.B. in court documents, gave the drawing to an African American classmate, identified as M.C., after a class reading about the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in 2021, the court said in its opinion.

B.B. "felt bad" that "black people ... were put in a worse position," the opinion said. The drawing depicted "all her friends holding hands" along with the words "Black Lives Mater (sic) any life."

"B.B. did not know that 'Black Lives Matter' had any particular meaning but included the phrase because it was at the end of the book her teacher read to the class," the court said.

Pedestrians pass the James R. Browning U.S. Court of Appeals Building, home of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in San Francisco, California February 7, 2017.

M.C.'s parent complained to Principal Jesus Becerra, saying that "while we can appreciate the sentiment of Black Lives Matter, my husband and I do not trust the place where the 'any life' is coming from."

In response, Becerra "allegedly told her (B.B.) that the picture was inappropriate and racist" and prompted her to apologize to the other student, the opinion said. B.B. testified that her recess was taken away for two weeks over the incident, though Becerra denied that any such punishment took place and that he described the drawing in that manner.

B.B.'s mother was unaware of the matter until nearly a year later, which eventually led to a lawsuit against Becerra and the Capistrano Unified School District. The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, alleged that Becerra violated B.B.'s First Amendment rights.

The district court determined the drawing was not protected speech under the First Amendment and that teachers "are far better equipped than federal courts at identifying when speech crosses the line from harmless schoolyard banter to impermissible harassment," the opinion said.

The court grantedsummary judgment, a ruling without a full trial, in favor of the school district.

The appeals court said the lower court made a mistake in doing so, citing the "conflicting evidence about whether Becerra could reasonably conclude that the drawing interfered with M.C.'s rights and whether the actions taken were reasonably necessary."

Caleb Trotter, senior attorney at the Pacific Legal Foundation, which is representing B.B. and her mother, said they were "thrilled" with the decision but that it's "somewhat frustrating" the matter had to be litigated in the first place.

That sentiment was echoed by several First Amendment advocates in interviews with USA TODAY.

"When people say, 'don't make a federal case about this,' this is the kind of thing they're talking about not making a federal case out of," saidAdam Goldstein, vice president of strategic initiatives at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.

USA TODAY reached out to the school district and its legal counsel for comment.

Court, experts say age is a relevant factor in student speech cases

The appeals court said the district court had misappliedTinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, a 1969U.S. Supreme Courtopinion that said a public school could not bar students from wearing black armbands to protest the Vietnam War under the First Amendment. The opinion famously said neither teachers nor students "shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate."

It has since become the "lodestar for student speech," National Coalition Against Censorship Executive DirectorLee Rowlandsaid.

"In sum, elementary students' speech is protected by the First Amendment, Tinker applies in the elementary student speech context and elementary students' young age is a relevant factor," the panel said.

Though First Amendment rights are not dependent on age, whether a form of expression violates another person's rights can depend on the ages of those involved, saidDavid Snyder, executive director of the First Amendment Coalition, a California-based free speech group.

"Verbal insults have much different effects on someone 7 years old than on someone who's 17 years old or 18 years old," he said.

Though the school had "broader discretion" because of the young ages of the students involved, the 9th circuit panel said, "it does not relieve the school and Becerra from meeting their burden of showing that their actions were reasonably undertaken to protect the safety and well-being of the school's students."

'Don't react to the loudest voice in the room'

The matter reflects a broader trend Rowland said her organization has seen in recent years, which is student speech echoing political polarization among adults.

"It is rough and tumble, it is sometimes inappropriate ... and sometimes that environment gets replicated in schools," Rowland said.

The school's alleged action against B.B. came in response to a parent complaint, which demonstrates what Goldstein described as school officials' "tendency to want to appease people who are upset" over such speech. Knee-jerk reactions, however, can lead to unconstitutional actions, he said.

"The advice would be, don't react to the loudest voice in the room," Goldstein said. "Stop and consider the rights of students before deciding how to react."

Though the issue has likely been "challenging" for those involved, Trotter said B.B.'s family has "used it as an opportunity to teach B.B. and the rest of their family about the importance of standing up for one's rights."

BrieAnna Frank is a First Amendment reporter at USA TODAY. Reach her atbjfrank@usatoday.com.

USA TODAY's coverage of First Amendment issues is funded through a collaboration between the Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners.Funders do not provide editorial input.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:First graders' free speech rights at center of revived lawsuit

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March 12, 2026

Free speech case puts first graders’ rights in spotlight

The free speech rights of first graders are at the center of an ongoing legal fight in California. In aMarch 10...

A dramatic, record-setting El Niño may be brewing, forecasters say

Get ready. The world's most influential natural weather feature is coming in for a landing.

"The El Niño cometh," saidclimate scientist Zeke Hausfather on X recently.

An El Niño is forecast to develop later in 2026 along the equator in the eastern Pacific Ocean, and some signs show it will be a strong one, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center said on March 12.

The developing El Niño may impact the number of hurricanes we can expect in the 2026 hurricane season, which officially begins on June 1.

It may also bring strong heat waves, droughts and flooding around the world.

In addition, El Niño often leads to some of the hottest years on record, such as the record-breaking worldwide average temperature in 2024.

If El Niño develops as expected, it "would push up our estimate for 2026 global temperatures (though it's still unlikely to surpass 2024 as the warmest year), and make 2027 very likely to be the warmest year on record." Hausfather said on X.

What's the forecast?

The current La Niña climate pattern is fading to eventually be replaced by a strong El Niño pattern, according to NOAA's Climate Prediction Center.

The likelihood of an El Niño forming in the late summer is currently estimated by the CPC at 62%. It's expected to "persist through at least the end of 2026," the prediction center said in the March 12 report, which officially declared an "El Niño watch."

"Even though model forecasts are relatively less accurate this time of year, the increasing odds of El Niño are supported by the large amount of heat in the subsurface ocean and the expected weakening of the low-level trade winds," the report said.

"If El Niño forms, the potential strength remains very uncertain, with a 1-in-3 chance that it would be 'strong' during October-December 2026," the prediction center said in the report.

The strong El Niño in the Pacific Ocean in 2016 is shown in this satellite image from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and its National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service.

What is El Niño?

El Niño is a natural climate pattern in which surface sea water temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean are warmer than average.

Its name means the Little Boy, or Christ Child in Spanish. El Niño was originally recognized by fishermen off the coast of South America in the 1600s with the appearance of unusually warm water in the Pacific Ocean around Christmas.

The entire natural climate cycle is officially known as El Niño – Southern Oscillation, called ENSO by scientists. The cycle swings between warmer and cooler seawater in a region along the equator in the tropical Pacific. La Niña is marked by cooler-than-average ocean water in the region.

Could it be a 'Super' El Niño? Or a 'Godzilla' El Niño?

Although they're not official terms, some excited scientists and headline writers have dubbed the potentially strong El Niño a"Super"or"Godzilla"El Niño.

Experts at the Climate Prediction Center do not use these terms. As noted above, government scientists say there's a one-in-three chance of the El Niño reaching strong levels.

One other expert, though, said a strong one could be on the way: "Whew,"said climate scientist Daniel Swain recently in an X postafter reviewing the latest model data. "All signs are increasingly pointing to a significant, if not strong to very strong, El Niño event."

Why do we care about El Niño?

The ENSO cycle is the primary factor government scientists consider when announcing their winter weather forecast because it mainly influences our weather in the colder months. El Niño doesn't have a strong summer climate impact for most of the country,NOAA said.

During an El Niño winter, the southern third of the United States typically experiences wetter-than-average conditions, while the northern third sees enhanced chances of below-normal precipitation, according to the Climate Prediction Center.

As for temperatures, "El Niño winters are typically warmer across the continental U.S., especially from the Pacific Northwest to the Great Lakes," Matthew Rosencrans, NOAA's lead hurricane seasonal forecaster, said in an e-mail to USA TODAY. "The warmth can extend farther down the West Coast and into the Southeast, but those signals are much less certain."

Typical influence of El Niño on Pacific and Atlantic seasonal hurricane activity.

How does El Niño influence hurricanes?

El Niño can have a huge impact on the severity of the hurricane season in both the Atlantic and the Pacific.

"Typically, El Niño leads to more rising air over the tropical Pacific, which then leads to stronger upper-level wind shear and sinking air across the tropical Atlantic," said associate scientistAndy Hazelton of the University of Miamiin an email to USA TODAY. "This usually reduces the number of hurricanes in the Atlantic, especially in the Caribbean and Gulf."

However, he said we've seen El Niño years where the Atlantic was very warm, and that offset some of the El Niño effects − such as during 2023, he added.

Conversely, "El Niño years are typically associated with more activity in the eastern Pacific," said Rosencrans.

Doyle Rice is a national correspondent for USA TODAY, with a focus on weather and climate.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:NOAA forecasters say strong El Niño may be brewing

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March 12, 2026

A dramatic, record-setting El Niño may be brewing, forecasters say

Get ready. The world's most influential natural weather feature is coming in for a landing. "The El Ni...

Katherine Heigl defends participating in dog rescue fundraiser at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago: 'Animals don't vote'

Katherine Heigl is defending her decision to attend a dog rescue fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago, the exclusive Palm Beach club owned by Donald Trump.

Katherine Heigl attends a dog rescue fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., March 8Credit: Manny Hernandez/Getty

Key Points

"Animals don't vote. The only room they don't like is the euthanasia room at a shelter," the actress shared in a statement.
Heigl has long advocated for pets' rights, establishing the Jason Heigl Foundation for animal welfare with her mother Nancy in 2008.

Katherine Heiglis hitting back at criticism over her recent attendance of a charity event held at Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump's exclusive Palm Beach club.

TheGrey's Anatomystar was one of hundreds in attendance on Sunday at the 2026 edition of Wine, Women & Shoes, an annual fundraiser benefitting Florida's Big Dog Ranch Rescue, the nation's largest no-kill dog shelter. The event was held this year at the sprawling, 17-acre estate that serves as Trump's primary residence, as well as plays host to a wide variety of weddings, galas, and other special events.

Heigl has become an elusive star since the height of her fame in the late 2000s and early 2010s, and the rare red carpet appearance March 8 attracted a good deal of attention. Much of that attention has been critical due to the association with the sitting president, whoseapproval rating has been plummetingamid the ongoing war against Iran.

Never one to shy away from controversy, Heigl finally addressed her decision to the attend the event, which she contended existed in an entirely separate sphere from politics.

Katherine Heigl on 'Grey's Anatomy'Credit: Randy Holmes/ABC

"Animals don't vote. The only room they don't like is the euthanasia room at a shelter," the actress said in a statement shared withPage Sixon Wednesday. "They are completely at the mercy of us, and they have no voice of their own."

"This event was about animal advocacy — something that has always been deeply personal to me... Anyone who knows me knows that protecting animals is one of my greatest passions," she continued.

Entertainment Weeklydid not immediately hear back from representatives for Heigl.

Heigl's advocacy for the cause of animal welfare is long running and well documented.

The actress and her mother Nancy established theJason Heigl Foundationfor animal welfare and advocacy in 2008 in honor of their late brother and son, who died in a car accident. The Heigls have raised "more than $8 million" since the organization's inception in order to support animals in need, according to itswebsite.

Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with ourEW Dispatch newsletter.

The three-day gala benefitting Big Dog Ranch Rescue raised $5.5 million in pursuit of its goal to open facilities in Alabama, Texas, California, and North Carolina, according toThe Palm Beach Post.

The event was co-chaired by Lara Trump, the president's daughter-in-law, and was attended by other figures in his extended circle, like Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, whom the president appointed United States Attorney for the District of Columbia back in August.

Read the original article onEntertainment Weekly

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March 12, 2026

Katherine Heigl defends participating in dog rescue fundraiser at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago: 'Animals don’t vote'

Katherine Heigl is defending her decision to attend a dog rescue fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago, the exclusive Palm Beach club ...

Mickey Rourke must leave LA home after default eviction ruling

Mickey Rourkeis facing eviction.

The "Wrestler" actor, 73, defaulted on his California eviction case, with a Los Angeles County clerk ruling that the actor must move out of his home due tounpaid rent, according to a March 9 filing obtained by USA TODAY.Peoplemagazine was first to report the news.

Mickey Rourke poses before the Billionaire fall/winter 19/20 collection by Philipp Plein during New York Fashion Week on Feb. 11, 2019, in New York City.

A default judgment is made when either party in a case fails to take action, either by not responding to a summons or by failing to appear in court. USA TODAY has reached out to Rourke's reps for comment.

A complaint filed in California in December accused the "Iron Man 2" star of owing $59,100 in unpaid rent at his Los Angeles residence, racked up over the course of the year. He was told to pay the rent he owes or move out within three days, the complaint said.

Stars are stepping out at the final awards events of the season as the 2026 Oscar race enters its final stretch. The star-studded Actor Awards kicked off the month of March, which will also feature the debut of movies like "The Bride!" and "Project Hail Mary," not to mention the Academy Awards on March 15.

Scroll through for the best celebrity photos of the month so far, starting with Michelle Pfeiffer and Kurt Russell at the New York premiere of "The Madison" on March 9, 2026.