Appeals Court will hear "I ♥ Boobies" student speech case en banc

We got word this morning that the Third Circuit Court will sit en banc to hear our student speech case B.H. and K.M v. Easton Area School District. This is our case on behalf of two middle school girls who were suspended for wearing "I ♥ Boobies" breast cancer awareness bracelets from the Keep A Breast Foundation.

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals is the federal appeals court for Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. Most cases on appeal are heard by a panel of three judges, and rulings are either unanimous or by a 2-1 majority. When the court sits en banc (French for "full bench"), argument is heard by all of the active judges, plus any senior judge who has previously heard the case. Our en banc court will be the thirteen active judges of the Third Circuit plus Senior Judge Greenberg.

Our initial suit was in November of 2010. We were granted a preliminary injunction by the District Court in April of 2011, the other side appealed, and we argued before a three-judge panel of the Third Circuit this past April. Since then we've been awaiting a ruling, but instead we got this news.

Today's news means that more than half of the Third Circuit judges believe this case warrants an en banc hearing. As we see it, that's a good thing.